PPP is on record as condemning moves that divide our people
Dear Editor, Recent actions by the David Grangerled APNU+AFC coalition government have given rise to great cause for concern among Guyanese people, more so when one considers the significant efforts under successive PPP/C administrations to advance a national project aimed at bringing Guyanese people together.
Despite claims of efforts to bolster social cohesion, the coalition government’s hijacking of national symbols, seen in the seizure of the national flag at Corriverton to prevent the flag-raising ceremony on the eve of our 48th Republic anniversary, the repainting of State House in the PNC colour (green) and the repainting of other state buildings (from the Office of the President to RDC offices) in green, can only be described as pernicious.
Post-independence, Guyana’s colonizers (and other foreign agents who stood to benefit) left our people with a legacy of division. While academics can debate the factors surrounding this problem, the fact is that a legacy of division has been accepted as such – a problem. And successive PPP/C administrations have worked to ensure that Guyanese are unified, by working to break stereotypes, delivering prosperity for all Guyanese, promoting national pride and bolstering a sense of a national identity among our people.
Granted that naysayers may want to argue otherwise, the response to such persons is to simply call on them to produce facts. The fact is that national events were used to promote national identity and officials at these national events were not made to dress in the colours of any political party, unlike what we saw with the officials along the route for the Mashramani parade last month. The fact is that all Guyanese prospered under successive PPP/C administrations and a simple comparison of the standard of living of our people pre-1992 and post-1992 will attest to this. The fact is that the stereotypes peddled have been rubbished. The fact is that Guyanese in the public sector did not have to worry about being sidelined because of differentiating factors, unlike what we have seen in the past three years under the APNU+AFC government.
The PPP is on record condemning moves that divide our people and the party will continue to protest any such future acts. All Guyanese, regardless of race, religion, or any other differentiating factor, must object to government actions that divide our people. Looking at the big picture, our country stands to bear significant losses if retrograde actions, including the recent hijacking of national symbols, are given acceptability in our society.
The undermining of national unity is unacceptable and any such action must be condemned by all Guyanese, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. Yours faithfully, Zulfikar Mustapha Executive Secretary People’s Progressive Party