–President Ali reassures Guyanese
–defends persons facing vile attacks from opposition, urges citizens to reject racism, embrace unity

EVEN in the nation’s most challenging times, it was the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) that stood firm in serving and protecting the citizens, President Dr. Irfaan Ali reminded Guyanese.
During a public meeting at La Grange, West Bank Demerara on Saturday, the President reflected on just a few of Guyana’s darkest times, and how the PPP stood up and protected citizens.
He first pointed out that it should be noted that all of the government’s accomplishments were done with two years of the country battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Ali said: “I want you to recall, during ‘COVID’ in this region and every single region, who the ones were walking the streets and the markets, with masks, hampers in their hands going house-to- house, going people-to-people.
“We were not in government; we were fighting for free and fair elections, and yet, every member of this PPP/C that you see here sacrificed and risked their life going house-to-house, going in the markets, going on the roads, giving out masks, giving out hampers, helping the poor…We had nothing to gain, but to protect lives and to serve you and to show you that we care about you.
“No government member [coalition administration] was out there, none of them from APNU+AFC, none of the billionaires.”
Dr. Ali further emphasised that it was the ordinary leaders of the PPP that walked every single street to ensure that citizens were safeguarded.

REMEMBER
He then reflected on those members that lost their lives during that devastating period and said: “I am telling you when it matters to remember who stand by you,” President Ali said.
He also made it clear that the PPP has withstood the test of time, and has a track record of continuously working for the people, even when they were in the opposition.
“We’ve withstood dictatorship; we’ve withstood rigged elections. We’ve withstood the confusion of different individuals and political parties seeking to manipulate the minds of people every single time they want to defeat the People’s Progressive Party,” President Ali stated.
He also pointed out how, even with threats, the PPP stood up and protested against the unfair treatment that was meted out to them by the former coalition administration.
Under the APNU+AFC administration, sugar workers were begging for their livelihoods to be spared, even going so far as to hold pickets with heartfelt pleas in the scorching sun.
However, the then government turned a deaf ear to the cries of those workers.
In 2017, the coalition government had announced the closure of several sugar estates across the country, leaving thousands of persons without jobs or sources of income. The move saw four sugar estates being closed, and over 7,000 sugar workers losing their jobs.
It is important to understand that research funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had revealed that the closure of the sugar estates under the APNU+AFC government severely affected the livelihoods of the laid-off workers, resulting in increased instances of suicide, alcohol consumption, and crime.
Since its election to office in 2020, the PPP government has restored over 4,600 jobs within the sugar industry.

STOKING RACISM
President Ali then turned his attention to the opposition attempting to stoke racism, in pursuit of political gain.
“The thing that annoys me the most is when these so-called intellectuals castigate those who join the PPP; the new membership, especially our Afro-Guyanese brothers and sisters. Always ascribing a motive as to why they join,” he said.
Dr. Ali then highlighted that even cabinet ministers who are Afro-Guyanese face vile attacks from those agents.
President Ali then told citizens: “We must, in a unified voice, tell them, no, we are all part of One Guyana. All part of one humanity. All part of one citizenry. All part of the one approach to the development and advancement of our country.”
Further, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo had previously stated that the opposition is growing scared of the inroads and progress being made by the ruling party in communities across the country.
As a result, he said that the opposition, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)/APNU/AFC, continues to advance its usual tactics of spreading divisive, racially-charged rhetoric to create disunity among Guyanese.
The General Secretary, who also serves as Guyana’s Vice-President, did not ignore the opposition’s attempts to sow seeds of discord, as he recognised that paying no heed to these narratives could lead to citizens believing the untruths.
Jagdeo pointed to the whisper campaigns by the opposition to label the PPP as a racist party, and attacking independent-minded Afro-Guyanese who have consciously seen the PPP as the only party of the future.
Further, he highlighted that the opposition spreading their messages of divisiveness does not only occur in Afro-Guyanese communities, but also in Amerindian villages.