Winter in July

May 15, 2013 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

When is the last straw the last straw? The President has refused to assent to Bills Parliament passed, not by an opposition parliament, (a concept which does not exist) but by Guyana’s Parliament. The scorecard shows that there is yet to be a victory for the opposition in Parliament since the historic general election of 2011. It is fast becoming an un-historical election, because we have no philosophical reason to refer to it as historical.
When an event is historical it essentially adds to the richness of history by the changes it brings. There have been no historical consequences of the election results of 2011. Let’s look at the scorecard. While AFC member Trevor Williams was sailing like Vasco De Gama, a parliamentary committee (with a PPP majority because Williams was sailing on the Essequibo River and Carl Greenidge was advised that he could not cast a ballot as chairman) voted for the wife of the Finance Minister to continue in her high profile job at the Auditor-General’s Office
Parliament passed a motion to remove the barriers around Parliament. They are still there through the acquiescence of the Speaker who sits as an executive member of the AFC (an anomaly I will return to later in a forthcoming column).
In the presence of this columnist, Commander Vyphuis of the Police Force told opposition Leader Granger that the Speaker agreed that the barriers would remain. And to think I campaigned with Mr. Trotman in Region Ten in the last general election. As “old people” would say, “I ring my ears, not again.” I respect and admire Nigel Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan, but wild horses cannot drag me out of my house to campaign in any election for the AFC where Raphael Trotman is contesting for that party.
Number three – last year the budget cuts were restored. Number four – and this should be the last straw – two important Bills have been rejected by the President. When you look at this balance sheet, then what is graphically emblazoned on the legal and political landscape of this country is that there is nothing valuable about the election results in 2011.
In other words, free and fair elections have no meaning in Guyana. Two elected regional councils – four and eight – complained that their annual budgets were shaped by the respective centrally-appointed administrators without the input from the regional chairmen of each council.
The rejection by the President of the two Bills has climaxed a long campaign by the PPP since the 2011 election to derecognize the majority vote that resulted from those elections. As a spin-off from this, Parliament had to be included in the act of contempt. There are a million ways to kill a mosquito. The PPP Government does not have to say it does not recognize the results of the 2011 national elections and the Parliament that flowed from it. Its policies, actions and attitudes are tantamount to its non-acceptance.
Against this background the term minority government becomes a misnomer. If Guyana has a minority government where is the power of the majority?
Use of the word “climax” above may be misleading. It could only be relevant if the opposition sees the rejection of the two Bills as the last straw. In July, the tripartite talks on the 2014 budget begin. Unless we in this country have the stupidest parliamentary opposition in the world then it will be a freezing summer. The opposition has no option but to put the talks in cold storage. If they don’t, they will lose further credibility.
The reality is that the governing party will not tolerate any avenue where opposition leverage exists; whether it is the Georgetown City Council, the Regional Democratic Council, Parliament and even the judiciary. No one castigated the President for subtly trying to intimidate the judiciary by telling judges that they gave decisions against the State because they want to appear as independent. In other words, he told them their decisions against the State were not based on their legal integrity. That judgement by Mr. Ramotar went unchallenged.
The PNC up to this day has to live with PPP accusations that it rigged four general elections. Yet the PNC accepts a situation where votes do not translate into legal authority in Guyana. Has the PNC accepted permanent defeat and will it accept electoral depravity under the PPP?
I saw a confidential document within the PNC in which the technical person (a professional accountant) the PNC put in charge of reexamining the statements of poll told PNC leaders the results of the 2011 elections are not reliable. What does that mean?

Latest News

Winter in July

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 17th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

GPF arrests Presidential Guards by 48 runs as cricket action gets...

Superbet supports One Guyana 3×3 Quest

FIDE Master Drayton outclasses strong competition...

Wiltshire, Chris dominoes tourney set for March

Houston Sec’, New Central, Saints sent packing

Charles’ all-round performance helps EBDCA U23...

Features/Columnists

No immigrant should feel safe in America today

If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?

From Bharrat, the Blusterer to Howard, the Coward

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Winter in July

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 17th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]