RESPONDING to questions posited by members of the media yesterday in relation to allegations made by the APNU coalition that his party is engaged in “race-baiting” and “use of state resources” for political purposes, President Donald Ramotar opined that the opposition is “fishing”, since they realise they are losing ground.

The President’s response came yesterday at a press conference held at State House following an allegation made on Friday by APNU that his party was engaged in race-baiting in light of general and regional elections.

According to APNU, the PPP has been publishing “inflammatory, racist statements” in order to influence the attitudes and behaviours of Amerindians and persons of Indian descent. The coalition said the PPP falsely claimed, on December 1, that the indigenous population had been “battered” under the PNC regime and that the Opposition was “attempting to disenfranchise the Amerindians.

The coalition has also accused the PPP/C of “maliciously” accusing the PNC of being “bent on marginalising the indigenous population.”

“In fact, it is the PPP which has been accused by the Alliance For Change of creating ‘ethnic and geographic apartheid in Guyana’ and of ‘stirring anti-African fears, conjuring up the so-called black jumbie’ to scare Indians and to woo them away from the AFC”, the main Opposition coalition contended.

Against this backdrop, the Head of State has firmly dismissed the accusations made, labelling them “absolute nonsense.” He has, moreover, asserted that while the allegations are “totally not true,” he is of the belief that APNU is currently “fishing” for leverage, since its leadership realises that “they are losing ground”.

USE OF STATE RESOURCES
President Ramotar, asked about his use of state resources for outreaches, posed this rhetorical question to the media: “Do you want us to walk?”

This response came in light of several outreaches which the President himself and Government officials would have been a part of in remote areas of the country accessible only by aircraft and vehicles. As such, “the need for these resources to aid in these community outreaches was of high priority.