The AFC is encouraging overseas-based Guyanese and others to sign onto the joint parliamentary opposition petition from the citizens of Guyana to the Caricom Heads of Government inviting “consideration on issues in Guyana.”
The PNCR-1G, the AFC and GAP-ROAR launched the petition last month to garner support from Guyanese to submit to the Heads for their consideration issues including freedom of the press, denial of civil liberty and fundamental rights of citizens. The petition can be found at http://allianceforchange. blogspot.com/2008/05/petition-from-citizens-of-guyana-to.html AFC MP David Patterson told Stabroek News that the petition was put online in response to requests from persons in the Diaspora.
PNCR-1G MP Lance Carberry and Patterson said they have not yet started compiling the signatures but the campaign is expected to come to a close on June 15 and would then be sent to Caricom Heads in advance of their annual summit set for July in Antigua and Barbuda.
The PNCR-1G has not uplinked the petition, but Carberry said it was gathering signatures across the regions, paying particular attention to the authenticity of the signatures. He said a number of forms complete with signatures have been returned to the PNCR.
Among the issues raised in the petition are for the removal of the suspension of the licence for CNS TV Channel 6, owned by Justice For All Party Leader Chandra Narine Sharma and the withdrawal of sedition charges against former army officer Oliver Hinckson and his immediate release from custody. Additionally, calls are being made for the urgent enactment of broadcast legislation based on the recommendations contained in the Final Report of the Joint Committee on Radio Monopoly, Non-Partisan Boards and Broadcasting Legislation submitted on December 7, 2001, and adopted by President Bharrat Jagdeo and the late Leader of the Opposition Desmond Hoyte; the licensing of private radio stations; equitable access by parliamentary parties to the state-owned media; the re-constitution of the Integrity Commission in accordance with the Integrity Commission Act No. 20 of 1997; an immediate end to the denial of the fundamental rights of the citizens of Guyana and the immediate enactment of the Freedom of Information Legislation.
The petition urges the Heads to use “Caricom’s collective influence in relation to Guyana’s affairs to facilitate the creation of an environment of peace and social stability, particularly as it relates to the advancement of the issue of Inclusive Governance/Shared Governance in Guyana, as a necessary prerequisite for progress, development and the security of Guyana and its citizens.”
This is good i will sign on
Very good move. They will get thousands of signatures!
No civil liberties would mean that such a petition would never be allowed in the first place.
I agree with the freedom of press partially…but really..has the Government ever put sanctions on Channel 9?
Let’s be honest….Guyana is no dictatorship, no matter how you try to spin it.
oh yeah… so why are you living in canada if this regime is so great.
nice of you to enjoy the great life and democracy that canada offers
and sit back and say all is great in guyana.
get real.
To answer your question..”la vie est bonne’ ……I left Guyana when the hooligans/PNC protesters decided to burn my home, rape my sister (because she was half indian, not because she was half black) and destroy the home my grandparents worked their whole life for.
I am not Indian..but of mixed race and so, I can say with confidence that it is absolutely TRUE, that Guyanese of African descent went on killing/looting rampages in so called protest of the PPP government. This is why I left, because the African guyanese hooligans (not all africans..since I share this heritage proudly…but a particular %) forced me out from my homeland.
The PPP Government cannot be compared with China/Egypt or other dictatorship/communist regimes and if they were anything similar then anyone associated with the AFC, this petition or any sort of anti government expression (like both of us) would be jailed.
No one claims that this Government is great…and I have voiced my disgust with them…but you can’t create a fact by telling a lie so often hoping that ignorant people will eventually believe it…if shouted long enough.
If this Government was a ‘regime’, then it would collect those signatures, round everyone up and jail them without a hearing…then jail the reporters who tried to say anything.
Open your mind, open your eyes and see the truth..rather than the racist version of what someone else is telling you to be the truth. Afterall…you’re not in Guyana living with the reality there…so YOU GET REAL!
You are enjoying what a true democracy is. Guyana’s dictatorship is the subject. Did not know you were from China/Egypt!!!
Go back and live under Jagdeo dictatorial regime and then you will be saying otherwise.
You will be real then!!!
Who start de race thing? Vote for apan jat (don’t even know if I spell it right)? Right! Two wrongs certainly don’t make a right. What your family went trough Jackie is said but that was then (not minimizing your agony), now things at a whole new level. La vie, I like you styling…certainly see things for what they are.
none of you noticed that the link is wrong in the article?
the AFC website is http://www.afcguyana.com/
webmaster you should hyperlink the text rather than posting the link as the line break inserts spaces in the url when copied
thanks ms… was looking for the petition but couldn’t find it … new here but i like this thing already….
My point about being a dictatorship is that you have to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges.
Egypt/China are not democracies….but La vie est bonne and analysis…you both cannot see past your noses. If you want to believe a lie and pretend that the facts are different…then you can…
Afterall, you are not proving your point but using bullyism, like the criminals in Guyana do….and even the present Government!
But the truth remains…if this Govt was a dictatorship- then you would not be allowed your nonsense.
And as for racism and the massacre of Indians…that’s not a thing of the past. It’s most prevalent in Guyana…and until people of African descent acknowledge this truth…it will continue.
Whoa!!!!!!!!! sometimes I really don’t understand the logic of some so-called “educated” people. What part of the definition dictatorship you don’t understand?
Tut, tut.. and spare the name calling, lady
And by the way, Ms Smith, democracy is such an overused word that methinks it has truly lost its value, moreso when the label is conveniently used.
For Malaika6 and anyone else who never bothered to ‘read’ the definition of dictator…but listen blindly to a twisted opinion:
Here’s the wikipedia definition of a dictator:
“Dictatorship is an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by a dictator.
For some scholars, like Joseph C.W. Chan from the University of Hong Kong, dictatorship is a form of government that has the power to govern ‘without consent of those being governed’… . In other words, dictatorship concerns the source of the governing power (where the power comes from) .
In this sense, dictatorship (government without people’s consent) is a contrast to democracy (government whose power comes from people) When governments’ power does not come from the people, their power is not limited and tend to expand their scope of power to control every aspect of people’s life.
So….when the PNC snatched power and rigged elections for 28 years, we were under a dictator. When the PEOPLE OF GUYANA’ by majority vote elected the PPP, they can never be called DICTATORS. If we held an election tomorrow, free and fair I am sure the PPP would win again…so they’re democratically elected…
Anyway-sign away at those petitions…doesn’t turn fiction into fact and has little legal consequence if any, since the counter argument/fact is much stronger.
Yes Malaika6, I am educated and can read, make informed decisions and am not racist to the point of following the popular bandwagon. I guess you were describing yourself with the term ’so called educated.” Its good to recognise your faults, so kudos to you.
I agree with you La vie… Is freedom of press why Sharma off de air (even though he does take things ova board sometimes, he should be allowed to speak).
Easy fuh we talk when we gettin a good pay and enjoying a good life. Go back and examine things and you will c.
Yes, I agree this regime has taken the firm steps of dictatorship.
Guyanese are worse off than they were 16 years ago!!!