President Irfaan Ali has labelled an opposition backed “anti-racism” rally held in New York over the weekend as deceitful.
According to the Head of State, the rally which was held on Sunday was filled with lies, hate and race-baiting.
“I think that it is very deceitful, dishonourable and obstructionist that people would go to the extent that they went in telling lies; that the grant, the COVID grant, was not given to all the villages and all the people, that there’s discrimination in the education grant that’s been shared out,” Ali told reporters on the sidelines of an event at Cove and John.
This appeared to be a direct response to claims made by various APNU+AFC parliamentarians at the event including Region Six representative Natasha Singh-Lewis and Sherod Duncan.
While the Parliamentarians were rarely specific in their accusations against the government, they all suggested that the PPP/C was engaged in widespread racial discrimination and corruption.
Singh-Lewis told the crowd that the PPP/C is stealing taxpayers’ money. The Region Six representative proclaimed that millions allocated in the National Assembly are not making it to the people.
Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine in his address claimed that the government is firing professionals who are black and installing their own people. This claim was repeatedly by several speakers who endorsed the Opposition position that nearly 2,000 public servants have been fired since August 2020. No specific examples were offered.
Narine also told the crowd that the PPP/C since entering office has withheld the legally required subvention from the City of Georgetown.
“I have made an effort to put political differences aside for the sake of the people of Georgetown but the PPP/C has refused to make any genuine effort,” Narine said, adding that the central government owes millions in taxes to the Council but has not paid.
Other claims repeatedly made include that the current administration was installed with the assistance of US Ambas-sador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch.
This particular accusation appears to have informed the decision of New York Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to endorse a request for Lynch’s recall.
“It is time for the Biden administration to act…and the first thing that I think that the Biden administration needs to do is to get rid of the Trump-appointed Ambassa-dor to Guyana,” Jeffries proclaimed adding that he and his colleagues “stand in solidarity with each and everyone of you to deal with the situation down in Guyana”.
“We will not tolerate racism, intolerance, hatred, xenophobia, racially motivated violence, discrimination and injustice,” he concluded before leading a chant of “Sarah must go”.
The Ali administration has taken particular offence to Jeffries’ pronouncements with the President telling reporters that any call for the Government or Ambassador Lynch to demit office must be time’s up for an ambassador… well then it has to be time’s up for CARICOM, time’s for the OAS, time’s up for the EU, time’s up for all the countries and all international bodies, the Carter Center, that supported the efforts to have a democratic environment here in Guyana”.
