Ethnic Relations Commission

Jul 19, 2025 Editorial, News

Kaieteur News – The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) travels far to hold itself out as a peacemaker. It is, but to a point only, and even then, it is selective. This Guyana of diverse peoples, of long animosities, have little use for a selective peacemaker. Guyanese need a real peacemaker, especially at this time. The ERC does much to stain its record, when it comes out with bland pronouncements, its carefully worded generalized offerings to soothe a roiled population. What the ERC does is make a mockery of its presence, and exposes how it can be one-sided, and two-faced.

The ERC should and must stand as a respected peacemaker, and the best way for this crucial body to do so is by being an impartial referee. What has to be called out must be called out, without regard for who is involved. Whenever hostility rears its malevolent head, the ERC must be on the scene with its clear message of condemnation, and insisting that the authorities take up the baton from there. The ERC has manifested remarkable energy in coming out and being very clear when certain segments in Guyana’s unending tug-of-wars are on the wrong end of its attentions. It is commendable that someone from some group is specified and isolated, and then taken to task. This is what the ERC does best, when it is true to its existence, but only when it does so consistently.

The puzzle of the ERC is that it springs to life when safe targets are involved. By safe, we mean that the ERC is not risking any hard glares from powerful sources, by stepping on the wrong toes. For its skills, calculations, and efforts, it may even attract a quiet nod of approval for being on the alert and getting on with its job of serving notice to those who are believed strain the peace of the environment. Social media posts are fertile ground, and there are many who operate in the local domain, and a few, very well-known handfuls that set cyberspace afire with their contributions. For every one citizen who may define those contributions as healthy and desirable exposures, there are a good many more who see those contributions as dynamite. That is, they have enough energy in them to fan flames and prompt unwanted ruptures.

We at this paper take an unambiguous position. Freedom of speech is a sacred right, but those exercising it have a duty to be responsible. This begins with respecting the rights of others, seeing in every other citizen the same rights as those claimed by each one of us. As long as the laws of Guyana are honored, and once there is no indication of danger, then the standards of free speech must prevail. Not because some politician from some group finds it convenient to sell those lofty standards, but because the Constitution of Guyana enshrines them among its provisions.

With that being said, it is surprising and baffling that the ERC has reacted so tamely to the instances of hostility displayed against a political candidate in his quest to meet with citizens and get his message across. The Guyana Constitution guarantees him that right, and the ERC should have been in the forefront of denouncing in the loudest and clearest terms what have been seen so far. The ERC gives every appearance of operating under some pressure, as though looking over its shoulder, which requires it not to make waves, but to advance on the stealthiest of feet. From one place to another, and in the most aggressive and hostile manner, one man’s right has come under intense fire, and yet the ERC prefers to operate like the Roman Emperor Nero. It quibbles and fiddles, and then puts out what amounts to a nibble or two. It is the equivalent of doing something just to be on the record of having done so.

This flabby state in which the ERC is now, comes at the wrong time, could lead to the wrong places. A committed and inspired ERC serves without fear or favor. Guyanese need an ERC delivering evenhandedly and consistently. If not, Guyanese are done a rank injustice, might as well not have an ERC.

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Diverse peoples, Editorial, Ethnic Relations Commission, peacemaker, racial

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