Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) PPP/C councillor, Kwame McCoy, has accused the Region Four Chairman of being dictatorial, domineering, self-centred and suppressive, and has said that the chairman’s behaviour “will not go unchallenged” as he had “no monopoly on free speech in the Regional Democratic Council.”
In a release McCoy issued yesterday, he said that Corlette often came into dispute with both PPP/C and PNCR-1G councillors for disallowing views that differed from his, and cited PNCR-1G Councillor Rawlewayne Payne as an example, since he was the most vehement of the PNCR-1G councillors to challenge Corlette on this subject.
Stating that he would continue to stand up without hesitation to Corlette “whenever and wherever he attempts to deny myself or any councillor the right to be heard,” McCoy went on to say that his own stance at the last statutory meeting “was the most appropriate demonstration of my ability to stand up to anyone, including Corlette who try [sic] to deny or suppress my right to be heard.”
At Tuesday’s statutory meeting of the RDC at the Providence Community Centre, McCoy’s refusal to remain quiet while the Chairman was on the floor, his refusal to leave the meeting when ordered to do so and to continue making interjections while the Chairman was speaking, prompted a motion from the floor calling for his suspension from the meeting and for him to be physically removed. However, McCoy moved out of the meeting himself at the urgings of his colleagues, and eventually he left the premises following the intervention of Regional Executive Officer Shafdar Alli.
Reiterating that he would “stand up to the PNCR or anyone who attempted to impose their “bully tactics,” he said that, “The PPP/C fought long and hard for the right to freedom of expression which is allowed in its abundance in Guyana today. Corlette has no monopoly on free speech in the RDC.”
He went on to say that Corlette was mistaken in believing that no one had the right to challenge him as Chairman, since he was no different from McCoy or the other councillors as they had all been legitimately elected by their respective constituencies.
“He needs to recognise his disrespect for refusing to recognise the rights of other councillors. We are all in the business of governing Region 4,” he declared.
