Claims of race discrimination must be supported by evidence

Claims of race discrimination must be supported by evidence – President Ali

Apr 16, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali has said that any claims of racial discrimination leveled against his administration must be supported by evidence.

President Irfaan Ali.

The Head of State was at the time responding to claims made by People’s National Congress- Reform (PNC-R) executive member, Aubrey Norton who has accused the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration of discriminating against Afro-Guyanese.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the swearing in of the Local Government Commission at the Office of the President, earlier this week, Ali called the claim by Norton “baseless and mischievous.”
“To have Mr. Norton, without any basis, making such a statement – there is no evidence he points 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,” he said.

PNC-R executive member, Aubrey Norton.

Further in addressing the claims by Norton that the PPP/C has favoured Indo-Guyanese above Afro-Guyanese, the President made an open call for evidence-based analysis to support the accusations.
“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 asked.
Ali stressed too that “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,” the President stated.
Additionally, Ali said that his administration 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, “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.”
Mr. Norton had posted a statement on the PNCR’s Facebook page in which he accused the Government of crafting policies to benefit only one section of the population. He claimed among other things that the PPP/C is “back to” running Guyana as if only Indo-Guyanese and PPP supporters are Guyanese. The PNCR Executive had claimed that “all others are to lose property and pushed into, or remain, in poverty.”