February 12 ,2022
A New and United Guyana (ANUG) today called for the removal of Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall over his ‘dildo’ remark in Parliament last week.
ANUG, which is one of three parties holding a seat in Parliament, said such behaviour has no place among the leadership of the country.
An abridged statement by ANUG follows:
‘YOU GOT TO GET A DILDO. THAT IS WHAT YOU NEED.’
This is the statement made during his presentation in Parliament this week by Nigel Dharamlall, a Minister within the government of the Peoples Progressive Party.
It is clear from the video recording that Dharamlall’s repulsive outburst was not orchestrated or rehearsed; it was spontaneous. When an outburst is made so viscerally and instinctively, that moment of honesty reveals much of the nature of the man, and reflects not on the person he was addressing, but on himself.
In our young society, where all are sprung from slavery and indentureship, there is no shame in remembering where others placed us in the colonial society, because we are not identified and defined by those origins; we aspire to rise above. Dharamlall’s demonstration in Parliament proves that he has not risen above. His vulgarity is reminiscent of another PPP Minister’s misogynistic exchange with a female social activist some years ago. But it is worse.
It is worse because the statement was made in the crumbling sanctity of our Parliament, where the nominees of the elected leaders congregate. It is worse because there was no response, no immediate and unequivocal condemnation, from Priya, from Oneidge, from Vindhya, from Gail or from the men seated next to them. It is worse because the Speaker, who imposes discipline, actually sanctioned an opposition member who protested against Dharamlall’s crassness.
To add insult to injury, Dharamlall the Dildo Minister has published a tepid attempt to repair the damage, seeking to excuse his vile conduct by claiming he was responding to similar vulgarity from the Opposition.
…Dharamlall’s pseudo apology invites the abused electorate of Guyana, those in the PPP camp, to rally around the refrain that APNU tried to rig an election. They point to the Opposition benches, where the purveyors of such crass labels as ‘trench crappo’ and ‘jaggabat’ sit, with no moral high ground. By misdirecting the conversation to APNU misdeeds, the PPP supporters can avoid confronting the ugly realities of the party they support.
A New and United Guyana agrees: APNU have no high ground. Supporters on both sides can adopt avoidance and misdirection. ANUG simply asks in that case: What next?
A New and United Guyana calls on the President to remove the dishonourable Minister of local government and regional development from office. He has no place among the leadership of our country.
