–President Ali laments; raises alarm over political bias in those organisations

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali has drawn attention to what he perceives as the politicisation and “hijacking” of unions and associations by the A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), pointing to the detrimental effects on national discourse and governance.

The President, during an engagement with Batavia, Region Seven residents on Thursday, condemned what he described as the “hijacking of unions by the political opposition.”

He raised concerns about the infiltration of certain associations such as the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) and the Guyana Teachers Union. Over the years, these associations have come under fire for selective outrages, especially against the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

“You know, that at the national level, we are working hard to ensure that we invest in the things that matter, health education, our teachers, you see time and time again, that we are committed to the improvement of the welfare and well-being of our teachers. Since we came into office we said [we] will address and adjust the salaries of teachers above and beyond,” he said.
In February and the weeks that followed, the GTU led an illegal strike which was eventually called off after the matter went to court.

However, earlier this week the GTU called another strike in an attempt to intimidate stakeholders, despite the existing willingness on the government’s part to engage the union.
APNU+AFC Member of Parliament and General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Coretta McDonald and Guyana Trades Union Congress leader, Lincoln Lewis, were among key political figures driving the initial strike.

The GTU was also represented by opposition attorney and parliamentarian, Roysdale Forde.

As such, the political underpinnings of the strike were called into question since the opposition came under scrutiny for allegedly using the teachers to push their own political agenda.
In the case of the APA, the President said this is no different.

“If you look at the way in which some of the associations like the APA…they operate purely from political bias, they operate in a political motive as against the National Toshaos Council, which is the national body elected to serve the Amerindians of our country,” he said.

The Head of State warned that persons must remain vigilant against the issues plaguing the nation’s social and political landscape, where unions and associations meant to advocate for specific interests are allegedly being co-opted to serve partisan ends.

“We have to follow and understand the basis through which these organisations are operating. And we have to appreciate that many times these organisations carry a political view,” he added.
According to him, this “political view” has been consistently against the PPP/C government’s development agenda.

“It is important that you are also constantly educated about everything that we are doing so that you can take the message of the government, so that you can have answers and that you can present the facts. We are only concerned about facts,” he said.

The President said that at the end of the day, the interest of these groups should be about the welfare of all citizens, irrespective of political affiliation.
This is not the first time an organisation has been called out for being in bed with the opposition.

Last year, Transparency International Guyana (TIGI) came under fire from Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo for its silence on dozens of documented corruption scandals involving the APNU+AFC.

Jagdeo had called out the TIGI for turning a blind eye to the alleged corruption committed by the coalition while in government.

He said that this was evident during the 2020 elections fiasco when the coalition attempted to rig the elections. He added that the party is now “playing the victim.”

“They will get a supporting group of NGOs to criticise the government in writing reports and hope that somehow the international community, as erroneous as those reports are, they would influence opinion-making and policy in those countries in relation to Guyana,” Dr Jagdeo said.