The PNCR said as Guyana celebrates the 172nd anniversary of the emancipation of slaves the country finds itself “in the throes of its worst post-Independence governance crisis.”
In a press release the party said like slave owners the present rulers have resorted to the tactic of divide and rule and bribery to gain political advantage in the run-up to the National and Regional Elections due next year. It referred to Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall’s statement that he would be glad if a health crisis broke out in the city in order to oust the current Mayor and City Council while central government starves the council of revenue and has denied it permission to undertake legitimate revenue raising measures.
At the national level the party said there is widespread racial and political discrimination, human rights violations, a pervading sense of insecurity and hopelessness due to unemployment and the high cost of living, a burgeoning drug culture and descent into lawlessness and immorality.
It therefore urges the nation to join with the descendants of African slaves to rescue the land from further descent into the status of a “failed state.
“This spirit of overcoming adverse circumstances and disadvantageous conditions, is embedded in the spirit and consciousness of all Guyanese, of all ethnic origins, and remains a defining characteristic of our people,” it said. The descendants of slaves were pioneers in many aspects of life in Guyana: in the rise and expansion of basic education, the rise of a Creole peasantry, in the growth and expansion of trade unionism and in the establishment and growth of social and cultural norms.
In the light of this, the PNCR calls on Guyanese to commemorate emancipation by celebrating ancestral foods, music, art, clothing and folklore which African ancestors pioneered as these are an important aspect of generating a society confident in its diversity.
