Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon contends that President Irfaan Ali’s non-participation in an Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC)-organised National conversation on improving race relations in Guyana, is an indication that the government has no interest in racial harmony. He made this statement during a virtual press conference today.
Ali, last evening, said he did not attend the two-day event because of the ERC’s alleged lack of consultation with regards to the participants and the presenters for the event. He noted that the courtesy of an invitation was not extended to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira.
“How did you arrive at the names? …The same questions the Guyanese people are asking, how did they determine who made the presentation? How did they come up with the theme? You can’t just pop up a name. There has to be some sort of consultation, some sort of dialogue… I am not shy about speaking about these matters.”
But Harmon said today: “the explanation given by Ali has made it clearer for all who refused to deal with the evidence before their very eyes that the regime has no interest in racial harmony and that it will pursue an agenda of ethnicization in Guyana. The people of Guyana and the world have taken note and we will remind them of every manifestation of this policy in Guyana.”
The Opposition Leader said that Ali missed a great opportunity to set the ground work for racial harmony in Guyana.
