Guyanese political party wants day of resistance
The small opposition Working People’s Alliance (WPA) says that Guyana should use the June 12 Local Government Elections (LGE) “as a day of national resistance and African uprising.”
At a public meeting, Tacuma Ogunseye, a member of the WPA’s executive committee, said, “The WPA wants to make it clear that the Local Government Elections give us a good chance to start the resistance.”
He told the public meeting in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, that the opposition parties shouldn’t spend a lot of money or send a lot of people to the polls because the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which is controlled by the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), is already set to rig the elections.
“We in the Working People’s Alliance want to suggest to you, and we will formally suggest this to our opposition partners, that instead of mobilizing to vote on election day, we mobilize to make LGE a day of national resistance and African uprising,” Ogunseye told the public meeting.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has condemned the statements made by Working People’s Alliance Executive Tacuma Ogunseye about an uprising needing to happen in Guyana.
Nandlall slammed the WPA official’s call for the joint services to be “battle ready”, describing the statements as racist and inciteful.
Mr. Nandlall said, “This racist, provocative call for public disorder and resistance, presented as an alternative to the democratic process of Local Government Elections that are legally due, is capable of amounting to several criminal offenses, including, but not limited to, sedition, seditious libel, inciting riotous behavior, and provoking racial hostility in order to cause a breakdown of law and order in the State of Guyana, if not treason.”
According to the Attorney General, the Constitution’s right to freedom of speech cannot be used to defend such inflammatory publications.
Nandlall said that people like Tacuma Ogunseye are stuck in a time warp from a long time ago and have no place in modern Guyana or any other modern democratic society.
“We can’t get used to our freedoms and the rule of law, which protects us as a civilized nation, and become complacent and ignore these dangerous threats.”
The Attorney General asked all “reasonable people” to speak out against this “dangerous rhetoric.”
He also asked the police to take action “as they see fit.”