Moments after the Golden Arrowhead was hoisted at the National Flag Raising ceremony at midnight, the Ministry of Culture went into a damage control effort after it was revealed that it had not invited the Opposition to the country’s 55th Republic Anniversary Flag Raising Ceremony.

The ceremony was held at Parliament buildings and brought together members of the Government, the Diplomatic community and other invited guests along with members of the joint services and performers, but the Opposition was not invited.

In statement issued after midnight, the Ministry of Culture offered “a formal and unequivocal apology to the Leader of the Opposition and members of the Opposition over the failure to issue invitations to the 55th Republic Flag Raising Ceremony”.

The apology was also extended to the President for the “regrettable embarrassment”, which it described as an oversight.

According to the Ministry, the responsibility for coordinating and distributing invitations rests solely with the Office of the Director of Culture, and the oversight is entirely attributable to the office, adding that it was not a deliberate act of exclusion and that there was no intent to disregard or undermine the opposition’s participation in the national event.

“We take this matter seriously and are committed to ensuring that all state functions reflect the principles of inclusivity and respect for all stakeholders. Moving forward, stringent measures will be implemented to prevent such oversights and uphold the integrity of our national celebrations”, the statement added.

The non-invite was first raised last evening on social media by Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, while the ceremony was in progress. In his Facebook post, Mr. Jones said this was not the first time by that the Government had excluded the parliamentary opposition from a national event.

“For the fifth consecutive occasion, the Parliamentary opposition, which includes the Leader of the Opposition and all Opposition members, has not been invited to this national occasion. Guyana can not continue to function as a One-Sided Guyana”, he said.

Another Opposition MP, Amaza Walton-Desir, dismissed the apology from the Culture Ministry and the Minister of Culture’s shifting of blame to a staffer.

She said “we know that nothing moves at the Ministry of Culture without the micro-manager Culture Minister’s say-so. He has to approve down to the availability of the National Cultural Centre and now he is suddenly clueless? Then to trot out a staffer of your Ministry to take the blame…shameful”.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Cathy Hughes, said the Government has not been issuing invitations for national events to the Opposition. She said she believes “the PPP have shown us where they stand on inclusivity, national unity and mutual respect for all our races and ‘One people, One nation, One destiny’ which they no longer acknowledge or promote”.

This year’s Republic celebrations are being held under the theme “Expanding Culture and Creativity as One Guyana”.

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