Dr Jagdeo rejects CGID’s divisive verbal attack following President Ali’s visit to New York

-slams opposition’s ‘victimhood’ mentality
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has added his voice to the slew of condemnation against the verbal attack launched by the Rickford Burke-led Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), following President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s visit to Brooklyn, New York.
During the Head of State’s visit, the Guyanese diaspora in Brooklyn and Queens, New York ventured out to engage with him enthusiastically.
The CGID and other opposition personalities sought to disparage these persons, even calling for a boycott of their businesses.
According to Dr Jagdeo, President Ali’s visit and the resounding welcome he received shattered the opposition’s narrative that the Guyanese diaspora in Brooklyn did not want to engage with the PPP/C government.
At his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday, Dr Jagdeo pointed out the opposition’s usual campaign strategy, which appears to be intended to keep Afro-Guyanese in a perpetual state of victimisation.
And when Guyanese take measures to improve their lives by taking advantage of the opportunities the government is making available, the opposition seeks to chastise and vilify these people.
“That is why they don’t want people to own things and have good jobs…to keep them in this victim mentality,” Dr Jagdeo said.
He said this pattern of fearmongering and racism no longer resonates with Afro-Guyanese.
“They told the people in Linden not to apply for the part-time jobs because they wouldn’t get them. Now, you have 1200 mainly Afro-Guyanese working in Linden on the part-time jobs that they never provided,” the GS highlighted.
He further emphasised, “They said, ‘Don’t apply for house lots, you’re never going to get’. Now, more Guyanese have gotten house lots under the PPP than they would ever get under APNU. We made it clear that we want the people to get wealthy. We want them to have jobs, to become homeowners…because we believe that wealthier people will still support the PPP.”
He berated the PNC+APNU+AFC opposition for their continued attempts to manipulate Guyanese to gain political mileage.
The former President pointed out that after more than 30 years in leadership, the opposition has very few achievements to campaign on.
Contrastingly, Dr Jagdeo pointed out that most of the PPP/C campaigns have been ‘entirely positive’, building on the massive feats the government has achieved in its pursuit of national prosperity.
“We have restored a bankrupt economy to one of the most vibrant economies in the world, even before oil. We have advanced healthcare. Per capita income has grown, businesses have grown in Guyana. We have more jobs. We have campaigned more on housing, scholarships, healthcare delivery because we can point to those things,” he explained.
Dr Jagdeo pointed out that the PPP/C government continues to prove time and again that its policies are geared at uplifting Guyanese people, regardless of political affiliation, class, race, or any other distinguishing characteristics.
Transformative programmes and policies are a cornerstone of the government’s development plan, and across the country, Guyanese are seeing brighter futures and unlocking monumental avenues for growth and progress.