Private Sector Commission condemns Azruddin Mohamed-led WIN party’s boycott call after bank account cancellations

Last Updated on Saturday, 2 August 2025, 9:33 by Writer

In the wake of a call by We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) for Guyanese to boycott at least two commercial banks and their associated businesses after several of its candidates’ bank accounts were closed, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Friday vehemently condemned that political party whose leader, Azruddin Mohamed, has been sanctioned by the United States (U.S.).

“We categorically reject any attempt to bully or coerce the private sector into political battles. The attempt by a political party, whose leader is currently sanctioned by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) in the United States, to pressure private businesses through public threats and organized boycotts undermines the very democratic values they claim to defend,” the PSC said in a statement.

The PSC called on Guyanese not to heed WIN’s call to stop doing business with those companies. “To the public, we urge calm and reason. Guyana’s progress depends on a stable, lawful, and unified people.”

The U.S. Treasury Department’s OFAC slapped Mr Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed with sanctions last year June for allegedly evading US$50 million in taxes, payable to the Guyana government, on the export of more than 10,000 kilogrammes of gold.

WIN on Friday said Demerara Bank Limited and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry’s (GBTI) cancellation of the bank accounts of a number of WIN candidates was “appalling” and politically motivated. “This is not an accident. It is a clear, calculated, and cowardly attack against a legitimate political movement contesting elections in its own homeland. It is a politically orchestrated effort to destabilize and demoralize WIN and its supporters,” that party said.

The PSC said the private sector is not an arm of the State, but its members are required to make decisions based on risks and the local and international legal and regulatory frameworks. While calling on politicians to act with maturity and responsibility, the PSC vowed to push back against efforts to destabilize Guyana’s political and economic environment or intimidate its members. “Our members make decisions based on their own internal risk assessments, legal obligations, and the best interests of their shareholders, employees, and clients. These companies operate in accordance with Guyana’s laws and international regulations,” the PSC said.

A senior policymaker in Demerara Bank and Demerara Distillers Limited did not immediately comment when contacted by WhatsApp. A similar boycott call was issued by WIN against GBTI and several of that bank’s affiliated or associated businesses.

Deeming WIN’s move as ” reckless, inflammatory, politically and economically irresponsible,” the PSC cautioned that a boycott could have a ripple effect on the broader community of Guyanese. “Many of our companies have longstanding economic ties to the United States and other international partners. To threaten them for making responsible, lawful decisions is misguided and reckless to the thousands of Guyanese whose livelihoods depend on these businesses,” the umbrella business support organisation said.

Saying that the most dangerous threat to democracy is not lawful private enterprise but instead the “reckless weaponization of political rhetoric to incite division, distrust, and economic or political instability,” the PSC pledged its full support to the business community. Rather than being intimidated by political posturing, the umbrella business organisation urged its members to continue to act in good faith, uphold the law, serve their clients, and protect their employees.

For its part, WIN suggested that the incumbent People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration was behind the banks’ cancellation of the accounts. That party said such alleged action amounted to state-sponsored intimidation, threats, and punitive measures. “These banks have become nothing more than corporate footstools of the PPPC regime, dancing to the tune of a government that fears accountability and trembles at the rise of a new political force rooted in justice, equity, and nationhood.

WIN said those corporate actors must learn that they are not above the people and do not get to pick and choose which political views are “safe” for business and which ones are not. They are either neutral or they are political operatives. And if they choose to operate as agents of repression, they must face the consequences of public outrage and resistance,” the party added.