THE Cuffy 250 Committee on Saturday announced that it would be postponing its upcoming conference, as they intend to seek clarity from the Attorney-General as to whether it can be held.

The organization, in a press statement, said that the programme, which is expected to discuss the “state of African Guyanese”, under the title, “Resisting the Emerging Apartheid State”, was put on hold as they seek to clarify whether it is unconstitutional to host such an event.

The committee made mention of a statement made by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, in which he spoke on the title of the said forum.
Nandlall, in a column titled, “Apartheid! Delusions of an irreverent few clamoring for relevance”, stated that the use of the term in title is one that goes against what is enshrined in Guyana’s Constitution.

He stated that Article 149 of the Constitution guarantees protection to every citizen against discrimination, on the grounds of race, ethnicity and religion among other things.
In the article, the attorney-general outlined several sections of the Constitution that have outlawed racial and ethnic discrimination in every form and manner. As such, he highlighted that there is no system to which the listed speakers for the forum would be able to point within the country’s constitution or government that will be supportive of the theme.

“Neither is there a singular policy of state or government to which they can advert to aid their perfidious hypothesis,” he added.
Additionally, he mentioned that if this was the case, they should have challenged the racially odious systems or policies before the courts.

The AG also highlighted the fact that one of the persons that the committee had listed on their poster as a speaker for the virtual forum, rejected the phrase that was used as the theme for the programme.
Floyd Haynes had said that he was not formally or informally asked to be a part of the programme and called for his name to be removed immediately.

In a statement he said, “I completely reject the phrase ‘resisting the emerging apartheid state’ to describe conditions in Guyana. In my view, this statement is a disservice to all Guyanese.”
Haynes went on to add that he is a firm supporter of President Dr. Irfaan Ali and is convinced that it is not part of the president’s agenda to create disparity based on race.
Meanwhile, the Cuffy 250 group has said that it is consulting its attorneys on whether the statements made by the AG jeopardize the right to free speech.