Jagdeo frowns on complaint filed against him at Ethnic Relations Commission

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo has frowned on a complaint against him that has been filed with the Ethnic Relations Commission, (ERC) by prominent businessman Terrence Campbell.

He said he hopes the ERC can conduct its investigation and publish its findings soon.

Mr. Campbell in filing his complaint to the ERC, accused the Vice President of violating the Racial Hostility Act and the Cybercrime Act.

He told the ERC that on Thursday 12th December, the Vice President willfully made statements to excite hostility and ill-will against him in violation of the law.

The Vice President’s statement against Campbell at his press conference appeared in response to a statement Campbell made in a letter to the press.

During yesterday’s press conference, Mr. Jagdeo maintained that he was the victim in the case and he was merely responding to what was said about him.

“So, he makes a racist statement about me, and I said its racist and then he feels aggrieved that he makes a racist statement about me and he complains to the ERC that I misinterpreted his statement, this is a clear as daylight that it was a racist statement but it is a pattern of behaviour,” Mr. Jagdeo said.

In that letter, Campbell said “The VP has a genetic predisposition to eating his cake and having it. As President he was “Champion” of the Earth, today he is a Champion of Fossil Fuels. As Opposition Leader he was Champion of Renegotiation, today he is Champion of Contract Sanctity.”

Mr. Campbell complained to the ERC that at his last press conference, the Vice President turned his attention to the statement in the letter, and accused him of broadly “talking about Indo-Guyanese”.

“So, I hope that the ERC would quickly investigate this matter and we would have a formal report coming out of the ERC. I maintain my position that what Terrence Campbell wrote and what was circulated and others was a racist statement,” Jagdeo noted.

Mr. Campbell and Mr. Jagdeo have been going at each other, since the businessman who sits on the Investment Committee of the Natural Resource Fund board, described the board as a rubber stamp and accused the Government of continuously failing to explain all of its deductions from the oil fund.