WPA calls on PPP, PNC/R to campaign against racial attacks
Stabroek News
July 19, 2002
The Working People's Alliance (WPA) is calling on the PPP and the PNC/R to not only distance their parties from all forms of racial attacks, but also to actively campaign against such incidents.
The party said also in a press release yesterday that it roundly condemns all direct and indirect racial attacks, whether physical, verbal or otherwise.
The WPA said it has noted with horror that many of these attacks are targeted at defenceless people, in particular Indo-Guyanese women and children and others.
"These gross human rights violations can no longer be tolerated," the party asserted.
And it restated what it termed its historical commitment to a multiracial Guyana in which the working people and all interest groups of all races are treated equally and guaranteed a stake in shaping the country's destiny.
The WPA is also urging the abolition of the winner-take-all system for one that ensures an equitable distribution of the power of decision-making, while underscoring its continuing belief that no single party or race can or should govern at the exclusion of others.
Reiterating its long-held position that executive power sharing is one of the most viable options available, the WPA noted that this option has been almost scornfully dismissed but regrettably the chosen options have rapidly proven ineffective.
However, the party still feels that the virtual refusal to examine ways to share power does not detract from the promise it holds for socio-political peace and stability and the development of a genuine national community.
For the immediate future and the short term, the release stated, the WPA welcomes the recent initiative taken by the civil society group and other similar initiatives to launch a national campaign for shared governance.
"The WPA stands ready to contribute to this process but cautions that any decisions arrived at must have the full confidence of the multiracial masses," the release said.
It stated also that while the party condemns all manifestations of lawlessness, it has noted that the actions of sections of the coercive arms of the state have helped to exacerbate the situation.
"In this connection," the release said, "the WPA calls for a thorough investigation of the operations of the (Police) Target Special Squad, particularly in light of the revelation in the Thomas Carroll case".
Some members of that squad were fingered for acting as enforcers for Carroll, who is serving a lengthy jail sentence following his conviction in a US court on charges stemming from a visa racket he had operated as a consul at the US Embassy in Georgetown.
The WPA stressed that its objection to extra-judicial killings, whether state-sponsored or from other quarters, remains constant and it makes bold to urge the wisdom of commonsense. The opposition party, referring to the July 3 storming of the Presidential Secretariat by anti-government protestors, said that it supports the prosecution of those suspected of being responsible for the crimes committed, but questions what it describes as the "familiar resort to treason charges."
"Failure to hold enquiries and to take timely appropriate measures should not be corrected in this way," the WPA cautioned.
The release said too that the party wishes to commend all those ordinary citizens who are contributing to bringing about some degree of normalcy, and in that regard, it salutes those Buxtonians who courageously captured criminals who had recently robbed a nearby gas station. "This gives hope," the WPA said.
The release pointed out that the WPA recognises the economic difficulties the country faces and the contributory impact of high unemployment on the current social conditions.
"We urge the private sector, the government, and all other stakeholders to join together in an unrelenting fight to end poverty, violent crimes and political instability, which remain the most potent barriers to economic empowerment of the poor and the powerless," the WPA concluded.