President blasts ERC for hiding during elections’ months

President Irfaan Ali yesterday said that the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) needs to take responsibility and to stand up in the face of wrongdoings – the body failed to do so in the months following the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
The Head of State made this statement according to a release from the Office of the President, while fielding questions yesterday on his Government’s non-participation in the ERC’s National Conversation which was held on December 14 and 15, under the theme ‘Understand. Respect. Unite: Bridging the Ethnic Divide’.

“The question first of all has to be understood in context… I think that the Government has made it very clear that one of the pressing issues, which we faced over the last five months…when democracy was under threat. Every single stakeholder in Guyana agrees that democracy was under threat, but ERC did not issue a single statement, the ERC went hiding.”
The President lamented, too, on the lack of consultation with regards to the participants and the presenters for the event. He noted that the courtesy of an invitation was not extended to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, the Gail Teixeira.

“How did you arrive at the names? …The same questions the Guyanese people are asking, how did they determine who made the presentation? How did they come up with the theme? You can’t just pop up a name. There has to be some sort of consultation, some sort of dialogue… I am not shy about speaking about these matters.”
President Ali pointed to the fact that there were individuals involved in the discussion who were also part of a process to derail democracy.
He maintained that his Government is committed to governance through a consultative process.