Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and the party’s lone Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton, is calling for the immediate recall of Guyana’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and Permanent Representative to the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Sasenarine Singh, saying he has repeatedly used the authority of his diplomatic office to intervene in domestic partisan politics.
In a letter published by Village Voice News, Walton said Singh had once again “abandoned the office he holds” by entering a political dispute over criticism of the government’s handling of damage caused by the recent squall in Region Two.
She maintained that the issue was not whether the government’s response was fairly criticised, but that an ambassador should not participate in domestic political debates.
“An ambassador represents Guyana. He does not represent the PPP, and he does not represent the administration currently occupying office,” Walton wrote, arguing that diplomatic office exists to represent the State rather than the government or political party of the day.
Walton said the distinction is fundamental to diplomacy and is reflected in the professional standards governing foreign services around the world.
According to her, ambassadors are expected to advance their country’s interests abroad and refrain from intervening in domestic partisan disputes, regardless of the political issues involved.
She said Singh’s latest public intervention departed from that principle by using “the authority and prestige of diplomatic office to defend the government of the day against its political critics.”
“The office exists to represent the State of Guyana abroad, not to participate in political contests at home. Once that distinction is abandoned, the integrity of the office itself is diminished,” Walton stated.
The Forward Guyana Movement leader also said such conduct risks undermining Guyana’s international reputation, noting that foreign governments and diplomatic missions closely observe the conduct of accredited ambassadors.
“Other diplomats in Brussels are watching. Other capitals are watching,” she wrote. “When our representatives cannot manage the most basic discipline expected of a diplomat, we should not be surprised when our nation is not taken as seriously as we insist it deserves to be.“
Walton said repeated partisan interventions by an ambassador weaken confidence in Guyana’s diplomatic service and diminish the country’s standing internationally.
She further argued that Singh’s actions demonstrate a failure to understand the responsibilities of the office he occupies, describing the matter as one of national rather than personal importance.
Expressing her vision for Guyana’s future, Walton said she believes the country can attain first-world status within the next 15 to 20 years but argued that such progress must be matched by a professional and politically impartial foreign service.
“I believe that if we put our hearts and minds to it, Guyana can become a first world nation within fifteen to twenty years, not by chance, but by design, and a first world nation deserves diplomatic representation that understands the basics and the rudiments of diplomacy and foreign service,” she wrote.
Concluding her letter, Walton called on the government to recall Singh from his diplomatic post and explain why, in her view, his conduct has been permitted to continue.
“Ambassador Sasenarine Singh must be recalled, and the government owes the Guyanese people an explanation for why this conduct has been permitted to continue for as long as it has,” she stated.
