Submitted by Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

NEW YORK: The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) wishes to inform concerned citizens and other supporters that we are in no way affiliated with a purported organization, which has recently surfaced, calling itself “The Guyana Institute for the Defense of Democracy (GIDD).

We have verified that this sham organization is being bandied about by members of Guyana’s opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which lost the May 11, 2015 general election.

This bogus entity recently issued a statement referring to a current matter before the courts in Guyana, in which Guyana’s Ex-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, is criminally charged with inciting racial violence, as ‘judicial lynching.’

CGID’s position is that the charge against Bharrat Jagdeo is legitimate. Hence, the PPP’s characterization of this matter as “judicial lynching” is as reckless and fanciful as its claim that the 2015 general elections were rigged.

CGID believes that public racial incitement is irresponsible and inappropriate given our support and advocacy for a unified Guyana.  Bharrat Jagdeo’s decision to engage in such reckless, irresponsible behavior will be dealt with in the court of law. We are confident that the court will rule on this matter in conformance with the relevant statutes and available evidence.

While we take great umbrage at this deceitful effort to willfully confuse the public by using a counterfeit organization with a name that is strikingly similar to the name of our organization, we are not surprised by this most recent effort by PPP members in the Diaspora to engage in their usual public deceit.

The deftness with which the PPP engages in plagiarism, intellectual property and copyright infringements, as well as its lack of integrity, creative thinking and ingenuity are well known, but nevertheless appalling. It is the party’s lack of integrity that motivated its campaign planners to steal a campaign ad from President Barack Obama and air it as their own during the May 2015 election campaign.

The Guyanese people as well as the Caribbean and international community have caught on to the PPP’s deceit and will not be fooled.

We urge the PPP and its supporters to cease misleading the public, refrain from divisive political shenanigans and embrace the movement for, and collective efforts towards, national unity.

Guyana deserves enlightened leadership. The people of Guyana have voted decisively to reject the PPP and its divisive politics. They have now embraced enlightened, unity politics.

The PPP must determine if it wants to remain relevant. If it does, then it must eschew racially, divisive politics and embrace national unity. If not the people will continue to judge it harshly!