Nagamootoo hurls racial slur at Jagdeo in House

– calls him “pompous and arrogant Coolie Bully” Later Friday night, Moses Nagamootoo, Vice President and Prime Minister, after forcing the House of Assembly to break its

Opposition Leader and former President Bharrat Jagdeo

tradition and convention to have him rather than  the Opposition Leader be the penultimate speaker, used the occasion to hurl the racial slur “Coolie Bully” at the former President as the latter departed the Chambers after making his presentation, along with other PPP MP’s. Jagdeo had not only presented a masterful critique of the Budget as presented by Minister of Finance Winston Jordan but had also addressed some of the other issues that had been gratuitously introduced by Government speakers, in their efforts to denigrate the ousted PPP administration. Jagdeo had warned them earlier that by ranging so far from the usual parameters of Budget presentations, they were opening a can of worms that they might live to regret. His warning was prophetic. Obviously stung by the devastating exposure of the yawning chasm between the promises of the Government and their about turns on issues such as VAT, but more so by the facts presented by his own hypocrisy on several personal issues, Nagamootoo could not contain himself. For instance Jagdeo had Nagamootoo’s silence over the degutting of his PM’s role as per the Cummingsburg Accord and his focus on swelling his salary and perks. In tones dribbling with hate, Nagamootoo opened up his presentation as Jagdeo left, by claiming that Joey Jagan “had written an article entitled “Coolie Bully”…and tonight we have seen the bluster, the pomposity, the arrogance and above all, the love of power” (cries of “Coolie Bully in background”. Nagamootoo was clearly alluding to Joey Jagan’s controversial statement on the day before Indian Arrival Day this year, when

Vice President and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Jagan had  called former President Bharrat Jagdeo “the Coolie Bully of politics” while endorsed the APNU/AFC coalition. The impetuous Jory Jagan had received tremendous criticism for his racially charged statement, but some claimed that it was done in the heat of an elections campaign. A senior PPP politician, who promised that the party will be using all the avenues available to in within the law to have Nagamootoo be sanctioned, pointed out that this racial slur was made in the House, which had explicit rules as how MP’s would address each other. He was quite disturbed that even in the absence of the PPP MP’s not being present to protest the outrage, not only to Jagdeo, but to a whole group of Guyanese people, the Speaker should have sanctioned Nagamootoo by at least have him apologise for his incendiary remark. In the Guyanese context, the word “Coolie” is equivalent to the “N” word in the U.S. and everywhere people of African Origin resides. The PPP official wondered what would have happened if a PPP MP had used the “N” word to refer to an APNU MP of African Guyanese origin, in the House. In Guyana people avoid using the word in public in front of Indian Guyanese because they know the disdain and insult it signalled. The Official hoped that the GHRA, the PSC, the IAC, ACDA, and all other NGO’s and private citizens would condemn Nagamootoo for injecting such a racially charges expression especially when the society is already tense over the firings of members of certain ethnic groups by the present government.