Days after announcing his resignation from the People’s National Congress, former Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira is offering the reasons behind that decision. Figueira also announced his decision last Sunday to step down as an Opposition Member of Parliament.
In a statement this morning, Figueira, who hails from Linden, said his decision represents the outcome of deep moral reflection, a re-examination of his obligations to principle and country, and a refusal to remain complicit in a trajectory that he believe undermines the democratic, ethical, and national ideals we are sworn to uphold.
He accused the leadership of the PNCR of exhibiting a troubling tolerance for “rising ethnic antagonism”.
“What was once a platform for unifying vision now flirts perilously with sectarian dogma. This is not the movement I joined. The responsibility to defend and promote national unity is absolute; its abdication is a moral failure”, he stated.
He said the internal culture of the PNCR has deteriorated from principled deliberation to an insular climate defined by “sycophancy, vindictiveness, and the systematic sidelining of faithful contributors”, explaining that he has personally experienced arbitrary exclusion.
The former Chairman of the PNCR group in Linden also stated that there is an absence of visionary leadership in the PNCR. He said the current leadership lacks the imagination, unity of purpose, and renewal mechanisms necessary to respond to a rapidly evolving national context.
The former MP also criticized a party decision to walk out of a debate to condemn the threats by Venezuela against Guyana.
Figueira said that decision by the party was not only a dereliction of parliamentary responsibility, but was also a betrayal of the very ethos upon which the party was founded. Leadership must be rooted in love of country, above all else.
Opposition Leader and PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton before the walk out had made clear his party’s continuing support of Guyana’s territorial integrity, but he said the Government had been ignoring all of the suggestions and inputs from the Opposition on the same issue.
While Figueira has not outlined his political future, he stated that he remains steadfast in his commitment to the people of Linden and the people of Guyana.
Mr. Figueira, who is a teacher by profession, became a Member of Parliament in 2015. He was selected for the position by his party again in 2020, making him one of the longest serving MPs from Region 10 in recent years. In the National Assembly, he was elevated to the position of Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
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