The exclusion of the APNU+AFC Parliamentary Opposition from the Republic Day flag-raising ceremony is being blamed on the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport which has remained silent in the face of mounting criticisms.
The ceremony was held on the lawns outside of Parliament on Tuesday night and saw the attendance of foreign diplomats and a slew of government officials. The only Opposition Parliamentarian was the Liberty and Justice Party’s Lenox Shuman.
Shuman is also the Deputy Speaker. When contacted yesterday, Shuman told Stabroek News that an invite was sent to his office last week for him to attend the ceremony.
“The invitation was sent to my office but because of the oil and gas conference, I did not go into the office. So I did not see the invitation but I asked the Minister (of Culture, Youth and Sport) if I could attend without the invite and he sent me an electronic copy and I attended,” he said.
Shuman iterated that it was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson who sent him both the physical and electronic invites.
On Wednesday, Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones related that they received no invitation from the government or the organisers of the event. He said that they were flabbergasted at the move and some MPs even visited Parliament office to see if the invites were dropped off there.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira told this newspaper yesterday that she had no part to play in the organising of the flag-raising ceremony and only learnt about the exclusion of the APNU+AFC after the ceremony concluded.
“I have no idea that they were not invited and only learned of that when the ceremony ended. I think the best person to ask is the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport because they are the ones responsible for the flag-raising ceremony,” she said.
Since Wednesday, Stabroek News has been repeatedly calling the phone of Minister Ramson but is yet to receive an answer.
Stabroek News also reached out to President Irfaan Ali’s press unit for a comment on the exclusion of the Opposition but is yet to receive a response.
Since taking office, President Ali has been constantly playing up a “One Guyana” narrative, speaking of inclusion and collaboration across all forms. In his address at the flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday night, Ali spoke of building a “One Guyana” where there is no room for division. However, the exclusion of the APNU+AFC Parliamentary Opposition, which represents over 200,000 eligible Guyanese voters, runs counter to that narrative.
While in Opposition, the PPP/C chose to stay away from national flag-raising events after it attended the Golden Jubilee flag-raising ceremony in 2016 and the then APNU+AFC administration reportedly failed to provide them with adequate seating.
When asked whether the APNU+AFC Opposition would have shown up to Tuesday night’s flag-raising ceremony, Jones said that MPs were prepared to show up even without being invited.
“Within our MP WhatsApp group…some MPs saying I am going. MPs were prepared to dress and show up. As a representative of the people, there is an expectation that you would be invited to these forums and you have to attend. It is not PNC or PPP this, this is national…if the invitations were available there were 14 MPs that would have been present excluding those that live out of Georgetown,” he explained on Wednesday.
Guyana became a Republic in 1970 under the PNC government of Forbes Burnham.
