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Shadow Minister for Legal Affairs, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, has pointed to the release of several photographs by United States (U.S) Congressional Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as proof that a meeting was held with the Opposition, A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC), much to the chagrin of Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
In a statement released Friday Forde said Congressman Jeffries in a ‘Public Statement’ Thursday (October 5, 2023), confirmed his meetings, with not only the leadership of the coalition APNU/AFC, but with “several leading Congressional Democrats—with expertise in foreign affairs, finance, security and other critical issues to the Western Hemisphere and the Caribbean-American community in Brooklyn and across the United States.
Forde who was part of the delegation that met the U.S Legislators said Jeffries in his statement “corroborated the opposition’s reports, and confirmed in his own words, the ‘important and timely discussion’ and that, ‘in the meeting, we discussed a vision for a Guyanese economy and a society that is inclusive, developed and equitable for everyone, including the Afro-Guyanese community.’”
Additionally, Jeffries, corroborated, the opposition’s debriefings to the public, on the meetings and conference, that Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton—who led the delegation along with AFC Chairman Cathy Hughes to meet with the U.S legislators—“also expressed concern with racial inequalities that he felt needed to be addressed and the importance of equal protection under the law for all Guyanese,” Forde asserted.
He went on to say in his statement that Jeffries confirmed “members of the opposition underscored the importance of lifting people out of poverty by ensuring economic growth, promoting infrastructure development and strengthening democratic institutions.”
To this end, the esteemed Lead Democratic Leader in the U.S House of Congress has since committed to, “continue to engage with our Guyanese counterparts and other regional neighbours and encourage the government and the opposition to work together to ensure that all Guyanese citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from the growth underway in the South American nation.”
The Opposition MP was apparently responding to a claim by Vice President Jagdeo, that the ‘Washington Conference on Guyana’ was simply a forum “to extort and get people to pay money, it was money making.”
Forde pointed out that, “In relation to the unfounded assertions directed towards me and others, Mr. Jagdeo’s persistent falsehoods, consistent deceit and habitual dishonesty and ongoing decades-old display of public duplicity, pervasive untruths and routine misrepresentation with repeated mendacity, is comprehensively documented, and available publicly, and as such, renders this matter unworthy of further response or debate.”
According to the shadow minister “Congressman Jeffries’ public release of the photos will further elucidate the remaining thousands of words demystifying Mr. Jagdeo’s public positions as ‘Gospel.’ In conclusion Mr. Jagdeo, in your own words, ‘If you lie about that, what else would you lie about?'”
The Guyana delegation which was led by Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton and Chairman of the Alliance for Change Catherine Hughes, included Members of Parliament (MPs) Roysdale Forde S.C, Amanza Walton-Desir, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Deonarine “Ricky” Ramsaroop, Sherod Duncan and Ganesh Mahipaul. David Patterson, MP was unable to attend the September 28th meeting as he was prevented from leaving the country “by a vindictive and illegal act carried out by the PPP government” the opposition said. APNU/AFC in an earlier statement said it was a “highly successful meeting.”
Story extracted and edited from (WiredJA)
