General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo chastised Alliance for Change (AFC) leader Nigel Hughes for untrue, divisive racial utterances made recently.
Jagdeo addressed the statements made by Mr. Hughes at a party press conference on Thursday.
In recent weeks, Hughes has come under pressure to apologise for the party’s role in derailing the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
And in a recent interview, he claimed that 1,200 African males disappeared and alleged other wrongdoings. Before that, in the same interview, Hughes said he promised to conduct a review of the party’s performance in his acceptance speech for party leader earlier this year. And he said until that assessment is complete, he will not speak on the concerns raised about the AFC’s involvement in derailing the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Jagdeo, however, noted that Mr. Hughes made these untrue utterances as part of plans to “obfuscate” concerns over the AFC’s role in the elections and draw attention away from himself and the party.
“When he is concerned and flustered, they go back to the same old rhetoric. The whole facade of decency and speaking in an erudite way and all of that and then you see the ugly face of racism coming out,” Jagdeo said.
He continued, “Where did he get the 1,200 African males who disappeared under the PPP from?
“It’s a lie and for them, they are hoping that this set of lies again will carry them through the future,” Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo then challenged Mr. Hughes to produce a list of names of those 1,200 men who he claims disappeared.
Jagdeo said a Stabroek News report evidences his position, and that article should be perused by Hughes.
The 2019 report produced by the newspaper showed that about 400 persons, including bandits and Police Officers, lost their during a crime wave in the early 2000s. Indo-Guyanese were also part of the more than 400 persons who were killed during the crime wave that involved prison escapees supported by key figures in the People’s National Congress opposition.
Jagdeo also noted that such divisive politics must not be allowed.
“… He was part of the old politics, the old AFC politics of dividing people while claiming to be multiethnic,” the PPP/C General Secretary lamented.
Contrastingly, Jagdeo said, the PPP/C is the only party in Guyana that has proven it is indeed multiethnic and works in the interest of all citizens.
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