By Ravin Singh

DESPITE his comments being deemed “racist” by many, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has said that he stands by the comments he made in New York recently.“Today I want to repeat all that I said abroad and I want to unequivocally stand by every statement I said so far,” Jagdeo said at a press conference held at the Peoples’ Progressive Party’s (PPP’s) Freedom House headquarters on Wednesday.

About two weeks ago, the Opposition Leader, while speaking at a social event in Queens, New York, said Guyana’s political, economic and social conditions were worse than in the 1970s and 1980s under the then People’s National Congress (PNC) Government. He went on to suggest that there is discrimination on the basis of ethnicity being perpetuated by the coalition Government, on people of Indian descent.

“There is an assault on our democracy. There is an assault on people of Indian origin. There is an assault on supporters of the PPP.  What we thought would never return to Guyana in just one short year has returned with full force, and even worse in some regards than the Burnham era,” he told the predominantly East Indian gathering.

Subsequently, President David Granger in his weekly television show, The Public Interest, lamented the dangers of such claims in a multi-ethnic society like Guyana’s. The Head-of-State noted that these sorts of comments are not helpful to Guyana and if Jagdeo or the PPP had evidence of this claim, they should either present them to the government or take them to the courts.

And while a slew of criticisms has followed Jagdeo for his comments, the former President said that he was surprised that he was criticised because these comments were “very mild” compared to what he has said locally since the coalition government assumed executive office.

“The first thing I said is that this government discriminates against indo-Guyanese. Its, true and I repeat it today again. It discriminates against indo-Guyanese. Secondly, I said they discriminate against supporters of the PPP. I’ve said that before. I’ve spoken about if you’re Black and you’re PPP then you face the brunt of the assault of the Government,” the Opposition Leader said.

He attempted to justify his claim by reasoning that the first and largest act of discrimination against PPP supporters in Guyana was the termination of employment of nearly 2000 indigenous community support officers (CSO). Jagdeo said that these persons were dismissed on the basis of their work being deemed political in nature, which supports his contention that there is political discrimination. “It was political work. So it was political discrimination,” he said.

He also referenced another point he made in New York, which was, “We’re going to work hard and take back this country,” explaining that he meant taking back the country from “people who discriminates based on your politics or your race.”
Jagdeo went on to suggest that if those comments he made make him a racist then President David Granger has to be racist too.

“If I am racist then the President has to be racist too for things he said in the past and continues to say. I will not stop representing people; if I feel they are being discriminated against I will speak out against it. So today I want to repeat all that I said abroad and I want to unequivocally stand by every statement I said so far,” he said.