Guyana’s Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has condemned the termination of University of Guyana (UG) lecturer Frederick Kissoon’s contract, calling the action a violation of his academic and press freedoms.
APNU regards the action against Kissoon, an outspoken political scientist and newspaper columnist, as a violation of his right to freedom of expression as a columnist, his academic freedom as a lecturer and his civil rights as a citizen.
APNU issued a statement criticizing the The People’s Progressive Party/Civic and its president, Donald Ramotar, for using its voting power on the UG Council to terminate the lecturer’s contract in the middle of an academic year, a few months before it would have come up for review.
APNU said that this move has come at a time when the University of Guyana is already in crisis and has been finding it difficult to attract lecturers in several academic departments and added that Mr. Kissoon has a natural right to be informed of the reasons for the termination of his contract and called for the lecturer’s re-instatement.
APNU said it has closely monitored the PPPC’s hostile attitude towards columnists and journalists who criticized President Bharrat Jagdeo over the past 12 years.
“The Partnership expressed regret that, so early in his tenure as president, Mr Donald Ramotar would take such a retrograde step by allowing such an incident to occur.”
