The presidency, the party and corruption

Apr 20, 2010 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The presidency is a very powerful institution. Constitutionally, the party that forms the government has no leverage on the presidency. The party could split with the presidency and remove him through the parliamentary process.
But before that goes into motion, the President could suspend the House. It is utterly amazing and truly an unforgivable act that the opposition PNC didn’t go very far in removing some of the powers of the President.
The PNC Parliamentarians in 1998 were so bitten by presidential invulnerability when their party was in power that, without even a moment of hesitation, they should have curtailed the omnipotence of the presidency when constitutional reform talks got underway in the midst of post-election violence.
The problem at that time of course was Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte. No PNC parliamentarian was willing at that time to challenge Hoyte to go very far in constitutional changes even though it was known throughout the PNC that Hoyte controlled the presidency after 1988 without party input.
Many top PNC leaders have told me time and time again that Hoyte ran his government without inclusiveness from the PNC and that a majority on the PNC’s general council at that time did not want the far-reaching electoral changes that Hoyte conceded to Jimmy Carter.
For example, a majority in the PNC’s leadership did not want counting at the place of poll. PNC leaders argued that such a mechanism favours the PPP. They contended that in endless Indian enclaves, PPP goon squads will subtly intimidate villagers by having a presence outside the ballot station. And when the votes are counted and PPP endure some losses, the goons will know and go on an intimidation campaign.
But Hoyte was acting as President and he made policies as President. Unable to stop Hoyte as President from giving concessions to Jimmy Carter, some strategically placed PNC apparatchiks decided to plot violence against Hoyte. This is now old news.
When Hoyte died, former television personality Tony Vieira, in his eulogy, referred to the conspiracy. And Vieira went on to add that the scheme was in a far stage. At the wake of Joy Duncan, I was again told of how Hoyte acted on his own, contrary to the position of the PNC on electoral re-designs and how an inner group wanted to remove Hoyte. From what I heard, Hoyte identified the main planners and threatened them with arrest. One hopes that someone will write about that period in Guyanese history. It will be one of the most interesting stories ever to come out of the political pilgrimages of this tragic nation.
In Guyana today, there is ubiquitous talk that there is a complete divorce between the party and the presidency and it is an exact replica of the Hoyte period and the PNC’s disagreement with him over the Carter demands. But there is a colossal BUT. Under Hoyte, PNC leaders could not have condemned Hoyte on his far-reaching political resuscitations.
Hoyte’s re-embarkations were based on popular feelings and PNC leaders would have felt shame all over the world had the made their disagreements public. In the case of corruption, PPP insiders cannot adopt the same silence like their counter-parts in the PNC when Hoyte was President. Corruption is evil. Corruption is Satanic.
Corruption is treasonable. But most of all to PPP leaders, corruption is hurting their chances of reelection.
It is in the interest of the future of the PPP and for the election success of the PPP for its leaders to denounce corruption. This cancer has reached the stage where every Guyanese knows that the Government is swimming in an ocean of corruption so large that it combines all the oceans in the world.
No longer can there be the talk of “show me the evidence.” This newspaper has provided the world will evidence of corruption. Every Guyanese knows who and who is benefiting. Christopher Ram, as an accountant, has provided evidence of corruption in a simple letter written to both independent dailies last Sunday.
Why the PPP custodians need to expose corruption is because if they do not they run the risk of being seen as corrupt too. If you are not part of a degenerate conspiracy, why then not tell your countrymen and country women that you acknowledge that the Government that came out of the PPP is engaged in financial venalities and you as a future president want no part of such ravenous immorality.
Dozens and dozens of billions have been siphoned off by the ruling cabals from this poor nation and the presidential hopefuls are silent.

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The presidency, the party and corruption

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