Dear Editor,
It is very sad and unfortunate that the Peoples National Congress seeks to talk about improving race relations in Guyana now by pledging its so-called commitment to good governance and fairness in the allocation of state resources.
The PNC party cannot be taken seriously or at its word, because it has had three periods in the Government: from 1964 to 1985 under the rulership of the late President Forbes Burnham, from 1985 to 1992 under the late President Desmond Hoyte, and from 2015 to 2020 under President David Granger. It did absolutely nothing of consequence to improve race relations, deepen social cohesion, or end discrimination. All the previous regime did was talk through the side of its mouth, before it spent $50M to sponsor Buju Banton tickets and concert.
Also, all of the abovementioned elections were fraudulent in nature, processes, or form. The elections from 1964 to 1992 had a suspicion of external forces at work in them for the PNC/R to emerge victorious other than the vote of populists. Also, all of those elections had serious ethnic and racial undertones, because the PNC/R had no shame in its use of racial appeal to get supporters on its side when it came down to the wire.
There was no fairness, no transparency, and no good governance, even though the PNC/R had signalled its commitment to these principles at various time spans, whether out of office or in Government. The rigging of elections each time took on various methods, but culminated in March 2020 with a sustained and direct threat to our democracy.
It is my considered view that the PNC/R is again talking about improving racism in Guyana because the PPP is in power now. The coalition, the APNU/AFC, of which the PNC/R is part, did absolutely nothing to quell the fears of Guyanese for five years, particularly those ethnicities that were considered as not being in power then, like the Indian-Guyanese, Amerindians, Chinese, Portuguese, Europeans, or mixed-Guyanese.
The PNC/R of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 2015 offered no serious solution or lasting remedy for dealing with the ethnic or race problem that rears its ugly head in Guyana at elections time. So, I do not have any confidence in its statement of intent, released on UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is just platitudes or talking, but no decisive action is being done, except for what we have witnessed the party leadership engaging in acts of racism, discrimination, and poor governance.
It is a known fact that the PNC/R has discriminated against its supporters and other groupings with the distribution of state resources and opportunities such as land, licences, subventions, and local government budgets. I have seen the countless reports and scandals, with some that have engaged the attention of the courts running to the heart of discrimination and equality of opportunity in Guyana during the reign of the PNC/R.
I have no confidence in the PNC/R acting as a responsible political party in Guyana, committed to upholding the rule of law and Constitution, specifically Article 13, when it engages in deceitful reporting of facts and information; engages in blatant propaganda, and spreads fake news on social media.
The PNC/R cannot be serious about its pledge when it has a mentally lazy and neo-racist in the USA making all manner of racist and discriminatory claims against people of its party, and is utilising the unfounded fears about PPP to organise pickets and protests for his black-supremacist views painted as equality.
When the PNC/R is serious, if ever, I believe it can find a partner in the leaders of the PPP to deal with, once and for all, the issue of racism and discrimination, which does exist in Guyanese society, but not at the alarming rate that the PNC/R is alleging.
Finally, the PNC/R and its paper party, the APNU+AFC Coalition, must end their political and diabolical plot shenanigans using their pseudo concerns about racism and discrimination. We see it for what it is. This empty pledge is nothing but the PNC/R wanting to pull the wool over our eyes.
The PNC/R should start with an admission of the use of rigging in the last elections and apologising. Then and only then would anyone take the PNC/R seriously!
Good try with the statement. The intellectual authors are smart, but not smart enough, because we see right through it.
Yours truly,
Michael Younge
