While upholding the right of citizens to agitate in the furtherance and defence of their interests, the Electoral Reform Group (ERG) says that it is appalled at the acts of rioting and looting that occurred on June 28 in connection with the protests related to the Quindon Bacchus killing.

In a statement yesterday, the ERG said it condemns these acts in no uncertain terms and called on the authorities to expedite the investigation of the Bacchus killing and the rioting so that all who were involved in illegalities are held accountable.

“These events reflect the reality of a permanent undercurrent of political distress in Guyana, where unrest and instability are always around the corner even at times of apparent calm. There is a thunderstorm brewing under blue skies.

“The events also illustrate the folly of the politics of ethnic division and polarization that pervades the nation. One is left to wonder at the possibility that, were it not for the rioting, the people of Mon Repos would have supported the demonstrators from the villages further east”, the ERG said.

It added: “The real tragedy, therefore, is the loss of working-class solidarity that brought a massive, united victory in 1953, but has been shattered ever since. This incident serves to underline the destructive nature of the relationship between the Government and Opposition, and the futility of basing electoral reform initiatives narrowly on the events of the 2020 attempted rigging instead of addressing the underlying electoral arrangements that lead to perverse political behaviour, such as relate to ethnic insecurities, state capture, and elections”.

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Electoral Reform Group condemns East Coast looting