The major opposition party also suggested that Guyanese participate fully in this colourful festival and enjoy the rich elements of their religious and cultural diversity.
According to the party, “Several demons are now abroad in our embattled land,” and therefore it urged the Guyanese people “to see some spiritual inspiration in this festival” and also “to brace themselves against these evils that are in our midst, and resolve, at this juncture, to take steps to end these calamities that now bedevil our country.”
In its Phagwah message, the party also referred to a consciousness that “our spirits are becoming increasingly sullen and sour in the brooding darkness that now engulfs our land. Violent crime, pervasive joblessness, creeping despotism, social disintegration and deepening poverty, stalk our land.”
Moreover, the party noted that “partisanship, discrimination and executive lawlessness compound bad governance; our economy and society are in tatters, and our nation can only see dark clouds on the horizon.”
But on an optimistic note, the PNCR said, “We are heartened, however, by the true meaning of this festival which has not only a secular significance of fertility, renewal and regeneration, but an important religious moral.”
