— predicts sound policies on inclusion and development of President Ali will ensure his second term

WELL-known City businessman Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer said the use of the term apartheid by some in Guyana will offend the victims of the apartheid system in South Africa, and predicted that President, Dr Irfaan Ali will return to office with initiatives he has introduced such as “One Guyana”.

In a facebook post, Deygoo-Boyer pointed out that apartheid was a totally reprehensible system of racial segregation, essentially limiting the civil rights of Black South Africans in a similar fashion to Jim Crow laws of the Southern USA. This system was explicitly spelt out and legally enforced, he noted. The term apartheid was used by the Coffee 250 Cuffy Committee for a conference titled, “Resisting the Emerging Apartheid State”. The conference has since been postponed amid wide criticism.

The businessman said when the masses objectively look at President Ali’s strategy for governing, and his “One Guyana” campaign, they see someone who genuinely wants to build bridges across the different Guyanese groups.

“You see in the governing party a strategy of inclusion, setting the stage for a solid platform for the future. With the Opposition, you see old leaders who are playing to a core base, but who will not be able to win support outside of that small base. Their campaign strategy is one of division. What they will miss is the shift in the mood of the ‘man & woman-in-the-middle’ who no longer is interested in populism, but instead in their own economic interests. Young and old alike, when they stop me in the street ask me questions such as, “How can I start a business?” or “How will I benefit from the oil money,” he said.

He added that President Ali looks solidly on his way to his second term with policies like ‘One Guyana.’

“I have noticed persons who were not traditionally PPP supporters waiving the One Guyana flag. My sympathy goes out to those who think that ‘Apartheid’ is an appropriate response. (They should also feel ashamed for using the word so trivially, given the gravity of the word to Black South Africans). I only hope that for our country’s sake, the next generation of leaders both Government and Opposition learn from and build on President Ali’s One Guyana,” he said.