Race and Politics

Former President Donald Ramotar is worried that big international businesses could have a say in taking away his People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) parliamentary majority in future elections under the system of Proportional Representation (PR). He noted that since the 1992 general elections and right up to the 2020 general and regional elections, political parties are “mushrooming” with as much ...

President Irfaan Ali has told Guyanese pastors, who are based in Brooklyn, New York, that his administration has not been engaging in racial discrimination. ““Our development programme is never tailored for any one ethnic group,” he told the pastors during his current trip to the United States (US) for the United Nations General Assembly. His position appears to counter repeated ...

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), David Granger on Sunday- African Emancipation Day- said race relations was Guyana’s major problem rather than the burgeoning oil sector. “Guyana’s big problem is the problem of social cohesion. You may think that there are other problems- oil and the economy  and so on. The biggest problem we have is the ethnic ...

In the fact of criticisms from several quarters about a section of his remarks in his Arrival Day Message that critics say gave the impression that Africans came to Guyana in the quest for a good life, President Irfaan Ali last night expressed regret  “To my fellow Guyanese, who felt offended by the way in which the language was structured, ...

Attorney General Anil Nandlall has indicated that utterances by opposition lawmaker, Amanza Walton-Desir violate Guyana’s laws. “Racial discrimination is a wrong. It is an illegal act. It is outlawed by the most Supreme Law of our country,” he said. Mr. Nandlall said Guyana’s Constitution protects citizens against racial discrimination. “Racial discrimination is something that the constitution protects Guyanese from as ...

Opposition APNU+AFC parliamentarian Amanza Walton-Desir said she told police that she feared City businessman Roshan Khan’s call for her to be “marked” because she said the support-base of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was “mentally lazy people.” But Mr. Khan later appeared on YouTube, defending his call for her to be “marked”, saying he was merely urging Indo-Guyanese to ignore ...

President Irfaan Ali on Thursday  said he boycotted this week’s first-ever National Conversation because the government was not involved in planning the event and selecting the panelists, concerns about decision-making and silence by that constitutional body about the five-month long political crisis over the elections. “Every single stakeholder in Guyana agrees that democracy was under threat but the ERC did ...

Political Scientists Dr. Henry Jeffrey and David Hinds on Tuesday said the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has failed to resolve racial and ethnic problems in Guyana because politicians are pushing race as a means of getting power, but a top official of the International Decade of People of African Descent-Guyana (IDPADA-G) tabled several recommendations for that constitutional body. Speaking on ...

As Guyana observes Eid-ul-Adha today (Friday) Guyanese leaders, political and religious organizations have all come together to call for greater unity, peace and togetherness among Guyanese, especially in light of the tense political situation. President David Granger has called for greater harmony among all Guyanese. “I pray that the outpouring of charity and concern for others, which is characteristic of Eid-ul-Adha, will ...

by GHK Lall Though I had warned to manage expectations, I still harbored faint hopes that norms would prevail, that self-respect would take priority, and that whatever processes are agreed upon and employed would be the end of the matter. My lingering strand of optimism was that all of this would lead to the final stop in this most grueling, ...