In a no-hold-barred presentation at the Washington D.C Conference on ‘Discrimination in Guyana,’ Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde said, the Irfaan Ali administration is “vulgar, racist, oppressive, and authoritarian.” President Ali has been trying to dodge these claims, hiring high-priced publicity firms, making speeches at the United Nations, and earlier this month led a delegation to meet House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to argue otherwise.
The PPP is vulgar, is racist, oppressive and authoritarian
Forde has since countered the Ali’s effort to present another impression, asserting Wednesday at the conference that “we can say without any fear of contradiction that the PPP is vulgar, is racist, oppressive and authoritarian. And we have repeatedly said, the PPP engages in a policy of marginalisation.” Making the case, the attorney stated since the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) entered government, in August 2020, there has been an accelerated in behaviours “in terms of their breaches of the constitution; acts of oppression in the country, the depravity of the acts, the bulldozing of homes.”
The Ali government has bulldozed homes and businesses, flooded lands, destroyed crops and livestock to move persons off lands to facilitate their brand of development. In the process they have displaced hundreds in Vreed-en-Hoop, WBD; Success, ECD; Caneview/Mocha, EBD; Amelia’s Ward in Linden; Hillfoot on the Linden Soesdyke Highway, to name some areas. The government has also used heavy duty equipment to uproot and destroy stalls of vendors in Georgetown, Charity on the Essequibo Coast, among other places.
Contextualizing and naming the situation, the senior counsel said it is “displacement strategy,” that had deprived significant portion of Guyana’s citizenry from economic opportunities and hinder their participation in the nation’s progress.
He told the conference the Ali administration has systematically disregarded the entitlements and historical rights of African-Guyanese citizens; the Indigenous Peoples; as well as the needs and aspirations of their own supporters [primarily East Indians], all while steering the country toward the establishment of a wealthy few at the expense of a struggling majority.
Poverty in the midst of burgeoning wealth
Guyana is presently ranked the world’s fastest growing economy. This year the country is expected to earn US$1.6 billion from oil and gas revenue. Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product has jumped 98.6% in two years. Acknowledging the economic reality, the parliamentarian said, “we’re no longer fighting over five coins, we are now a country that possesses billions of barrels of oil, and the PPP understands this, and they understand that we are entitled to an equal share,” but they are not desirous of pursuing equal and equitable opportunities for all.
Forde further contended the government is selectively granting access to this prosperity, in the process deliberately thwarting the empowerment of certain segments of the population. This displacement, he said, is derived from the government’s reluctance to acknowledge and foster inclusivity and will unlikely willingly embrace.
Citing instances to support his view, the senior counsel recalled government’s pronouncements of its intention “to introduce thousands of foreign workers into Guyana which is fundamentally at odds with the country’s current economic and social landscape.” Guyana has high unemployment; some peg it as much as 30 per cent when consideration is given to those who are desirous of work but have given up hope.
Organisations, including the trade unions, have called on government to develop a human resources strategy that will train and educate citizens and workers to participate in the new economy.
According to the parliamentarian, the government is not acting without purpose or plan and knows only too well “acting in accordance with the constitution, acting in accordance with the principles of fairness, and equity and equality, will see the rise and empowerment of a number of people that they don’t want to be empowered.”
Constitutional responsibilities and necessity for inclusion
Lambasting Ali for being more intent on establishing an oligarch, where the few are wealthy and the multitude are poor, the shadow minister said such a situation will not augur well for Guyana and violates the constitutional principles of good governance.
Noting the importance of inclusion as pivotal to prosperity and nation building, the parliamentarian told the audience: “This is the fundamental issue; we are gathered here today to discuss inclusivity with a government that rejects inclusivity, they are not going to come to give it to us, but at the same time, they are prepared to bring persons to the country to occupy jobs, to occupy lands, to occupy opportunity.”
Forde reminded that the constitution provides the necessary legal framework for building a just and equitable society. “It has everything inside that is necessary from a legal point of view to establish a proper, functioning, equitable society.” He underscored the supreme law was “created by people who were the successors of people who suffered, and it was not meant to be an arrangement of words on a piece of paper to perpetuate injustices.”
Having captured the essence of Guyana’s political dilemma, Forde asserted compliance with the constitution requires not only forcing the PPP to recognise the necessity of doing so but putting the necessary mechanism in place to limit their term in office. “We have to force them; we have to force them internationally, which we have started today by this trip; but we must also start doing it by changing and putting in place the necessary mechanisms which will limit their term of office.”
Organisers and participants
The conference, which was organised by the U.S-based Caribbean Guyana Institute For Democracy (CGID) and other organisations, was held Wednesday and Thursday in Washington D.C, United States of America under the theme “Promoting Inclusive Governance And Economic Growth, Equal Justice, Social Equality & Sustainable Development For All Guyanese In The Era Of Oil And Gas.”
The conference was attended by Members of Parliament from the A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), local non-government organisations from Guyana, such as the Institute For Action Against Discrimination (IFAAD), the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana (IDPADA-G), and American-Guyanese in the USA, and individuals.
Participants had the opportunity to engage Democratic House Leader Jeffries and CBC leaders.
According to the organisers, the conference was convened amidst concerns by the Guyanese diaspora that U.S policy on Guyana has not sufficiently promoted American values such as inclusive governance; inclusive growth; equal justice; social equality and sustainable development for all Guyanese.
Organisers expressed concern the oil and gas revenues are not used equitably for the benefit and upliftment of all Guyanese, and billions of dollars in Government contracts go mostly to the ethnic supporters of the PPP Government, essentially shutting out African Guyanese, and ensuring the transfer of State wealth to one ethnicity. The issue of corruption was also featured as well as exclusion of the political opposition and harassment of their leaders and supporters.
U.S officials were also informed there exist the prevailing view in Guyana and the diaspora the U.S government is unbothered that racial discrimination and racism appear to drive the PPP’s government policies and practices.
