Accusations of racial discrimination in Guyana’s politics by Guyanese politicians are nothing new. Between 1957 and 1964 the PPP governments endured charges of ‘apaan jaat,’ adapted to mean ‘support your own kind.’ During 1964 to 1992 the PNC governments were consistently accused of racial and political discrimination. Between 1992 and 2015 PPP governments were targeted by the opposition for “ethnic cleansing” and ethnic discrimination. No one should therefore be surprised at accusations by Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP that racial discrimination is taking place in Guyana.
The realities of Guyana have caused our main political parties to take cognizance of the fact that organized political expression and activity are driven by ethnic insecurities. Both Indians and Africans feel more secure in supporting parties that they believe represent and protect their ethnic interests. In order to sustain that support, each of our main parties must appear to represent, or purport to represent, the interests of the ethnic group which supports it. This is one of the factors that explains the accusations of discrimination by the party out of office against the party in office and their appeals, subtle or open, to ethnic constituencies.