DESCRIBING recent accusations of racism against his administration as ‘reckless,’ President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has said that there is no evidence to substantiate such claims, and a factual analysis would, in fact, prove how ‘horrible’ those allegations are.

In responding directly to such claims from People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Executive, Aubrey Norton, President Ali said: “I think it is a horrible statement; I think it’s a reckless statement, it’s a statement that has no basis in facts and I don’t want to do this. I do not want to do this.”

Norton, in a statement posted on the PNCR’s Facebook page, accused the Government of crafting policies to benefit only one section of the population.
“The PPP is back to running Guyana as if only Indo-Guyanese and PPP supporters are Guyanese. All others are to lose property and pushed into, or remain, in poverty. This is just one area of the acts of discrimination that are practised on the people of Guyana. There are many more,” the PNCR Executive claimed.

In rejecting Norton’s claim, President Ali, who was speaking on the sidelines of a swearing-in ceremony for members of the Local Government Commission, said: “Let us just have a factual analysis of all the entities in Government. What nonsense is Mr. Norton getting on with? Is this the way we are going to move our country forward?”

The President, who was evidently perturbed by Norton’s statement, further said: “If every single morning you wake up, the most hurtful thing I see on social media is the level of racist attacks that Guyanese would put at each other, and then to have Mr Norton, without any basis, making such a statement; there is no evidence he could point to… making such a statement is reckless.

“It shows his depth of leadership, it shows his commitment to national healing and national development, and it exposes his intention to create mischief, to create distrust, to create disharmony and for that I have no respect.”

President Ali, in his first address as Head of State of Guyana, had assured the nation that he will uphold the oath he had taken and will work in the best interest of the people of Guyana.
“There is only one future, and that requires a united, strong Guyana. That future requires every Guyanese to play a part in building our country, and ensuring we leave a better Guyana for the next generation.

“We are in this together; we are not separated by class, by ethnicity, religion or political persuasion. We are united in the true Guyanese spirit,” the Head of State said.
The new administration, he said, will be focused on a development agenda that will reflect the priorities of every Guyanese.
“We are building a country for every Guyanese. There is no need for fear; there is no need for distinction based on political persuasion, religious belief or ethnicity. This is a Government for all of Guyana,” President Ali assured his audience at his inauguration.

The President, in February, this year, had announced the establishment of a “One Guyana Commission,” which would be chaired by Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips.
President Ali explained that the commission would set out to take practical steps to cement Guyana’s one society by encompassing and respecting the diversity from which the ‘oneness’ springs.