President Ali dodges question on plans to increase spending power of citizens, by asking reporter if he applied for house lot

Jun 23, 2024 News

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“How old are you? Where do you live? You own your own home? Applied for a house lot? Well sit down. You are not participating on the enhancement of your own life…at 28 years you should be making better life decisions.”

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali on Thursday returned a series of questions to a reporter from Kaieteur News after he was asked to simply share his government’s plans to increase the spending power of Guyanese, should his party be re-elected to govern the country in the next Regional and General Elections.

The Head of State was just about ready to conclude his press conference at State House, Georgetown when he fielded a final question from a male reporter attached to this newspaper. The President was specifically asked to explain the government’s plan to increase the spending power of Guyanese should the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) be elected to govern this country in the upcoming Elections, scheduled for 2025.

This question comes at a time when citizens have been complaining about the high cost of living in the country and the daily struggle to make ends meet, despite having an abundance of oil and gas resources.

Ali who seemed unprepared for the question took the familiar path of Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, to not only dodge the issue but humiliate the journalist publicly.

The President said, “The government’s plan is to win the next elections by a greater majority.”

When he was pressed to say how the administration would increase the spending power of citizens if it is re-elected, Ali stated, “We have been continuously increasing the availability of resources, improving the livelihood of people and increasing the disposable income in the pockets of persons. I just gave you an example of the housing programme and how it’s linked to increase your disposable income.”

In his opening remarks, the Head of State alluded to the housing programme of the government and expounded on how property value has increased.

As such, the President went on to ask the reporter his age, where he lives and whether he owned a house. He even asked the young man if he had ever applied for a house lot but when the 28-year old responded in the negative, the Head of State instructed, “Well sit down. You are not participating on the enhancement of your own life…at 28 years you should be making better life decisions.”

Since Ali’s press conference on Thursday, a number of citizens shared the clip of the President’s response to the question, calling him out for failing to address this critical issue.

Such tactics have been employed in the past by other members of the PPP, including Vice President Jagdeo. In fact, the government officials are known to be hostile in their response to non-state reporters who often pose unexpected and direct policy-related questions.

GPA President calls for end to “unnecessary insults”

Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima Raghubir in an invited comment called for an end to the unnecessary insults to media workers.

Raghubir in her capacity as a senior journalist said the GPA will be issuing an official statement later this week.

She explained however that the body has received complaints from editors and reporters to address a series of incidents, including the bullying of a female journalist from Kaieteur News on World Press Freedom Day.

The head of the GPA said, “The bullying started at the Vice President’s press conference in the way he was dealing with her question and responding to Kaieteur News erroneously publishing a picture depicting this businessman who is not the businessman that they thought and then it spilled over into the social media commentator, Mikhail Rodrigues, putting the woman’s image up on social media and also bullying her.”

Raghubir added that there was another complaint from the Linden Manager of the National Communications Network (NCN) who is also a reporter for the broadcasting channel. The reporter was verbally attacked along with the cameraman at an event in the Region, by a named Opposition operative.

In addition, the GPA President said complaints were also lodged concerning the President’s attitude towards the press. “There are two specific incidents, when Svetlana Abrams of News Source who is also an Executive Member of the Guyana Press Association has been treated very aggressively by the President in the way he responds to her questions and what is noticeable is that he would answer questions from another reporter right after her or before her and his response would be very different from the one he would give her.”

To this end, the GPA President said his behaviour was “very concerning”. She was keen to note that the events were all listed since the politicians seem to be acting from the same “play book where they think or they want to treat the media as an enemy and reporters as enemies” by targeting reporters in a very specific and aggressive manner.

Furthermore, Raghubir noted that the Press Association has received complaints that the Presidential press conferences are geared to keep the media away, intimidate journalists from asking in-depth and interrogating questions and to demean journalists simply doing their jobs.

According to her, “The whole set up of the press conference itself is very questionable. A Presidential press pass is being issued and only two members of the media from one media house can go there is limiting probing on serious issues.”

Raghubir was keen to note the employment of Communications Consultant; Kit Nascimento by the Head of State is also questionable. She pointed out that during his interaction with the media, Nascimento has demonstrated that he is “bent on intimidating and insulting” the media.

She reasoned, “This one question, one follow up format is just really, really at this point ridiculous because I don’t understand how you should have a functioning democracy and you can’t even get proper questions asked; you can’t get proper follow ups; you don’t have Ministers available to talk to certain media houses; your commissioner of information is not functioning the way he should and you’re still getting bullied at the Vice President’s press conferences and attacked for doing your job.”

Raghubir said the press conferences hosted by President Ali smacks of the type of contempt he has for the media. She pointed out that most the journalists are senior members of the press and are respected with members of the public looking forward to their reporting.

Consequently, she noted, “To try to water down the press conference in a way that the President decided that he was going to have the back and forth with Marcelle of Stabroek News, a reporter from Guyana Times and the reporter Shervin Belgrave from Kaieteur News is very insulting to the press.”

Raghubir said that while the Head of State demands respect, his actions and responses show little respect for media workers.

She said the “unnecessary insulting and attempts to belittle the media has to stop now. It can’t be how Irfaan Ali wants to go into 2025.”

Raghubir was keen to note that had the government continued to host regular Post Cabinet press briefings, the public would be better informed and the Head of State would not be required to “stoop to the level” he did on Thursday.

“It’s very crass, it’s very disgusting and all I have to say is that the media have to continue working, they also have to continue digging, they also have to continue confronting all of these politicians as we head into a very important period in this country,” she urged.

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• dodges, House lots, President, Press Conference, question

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