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The irrational and provocateurs amongst us have to be contained

Oct 31, 2017 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Response is being made to Charles Sugrim’s letter “In defense of Anil Nandlall” (KN 28/10/2017) which is in response to my letter “Jagdeo’s reign was terrible but Granger should have done better” (KN 26/10/2017). Sugrim’s letter serves to prove how unbecoming the discussions surrounding the constitutional appointment of Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman have become.
I stand by my position that Anil Nandlall should have known better when he made the ridiculous statements pertaining to association as a disqualifier for the position of Chairman. The reference to his attention that Patterson does not qualify – be it based on President Granger’s definition that he was looking for a candidate who has no political affiliation, the PPP’s, or whomever – does not automatically make Patterson a PNC member because he was a pall bearer of Desmond Hoyte’s casket, being a member of the legal profession as Hoyte, or probably even a friend.
Neither is there any merit to Nandlall’s claim that political partisanship exists being part of some PNC group on facebook, including whether Patterson ever voted for the PNC or not, or was a member of the PNC or not. The rights to freedom of association, sharing and receiving information, knowledge and ideas, and casting a ballot for a party of choice are fundamental and constitutionally protected.
Further, the claim by Nandlall that association makes Patterson a PNC and therefore not deserving to be appointed is nonsense, and even if Granger set out such a standard, it still does not make the point valid or legitimate.
Going by Nandlall’s contention, when Bharrat Jagdeo submitted the nominees, it would have been expected that each nominee conformed to the criteria outlined in Article 161(2) of the Guyana Constitution or, as now it wants to be believed, was mindful of the ‘standard’ Granger set.
Where the PPP now finds convenient offence, and takes objection to the appointment based on perceived political association, when it submitted persons known for their overt political and race-based association, brings into question the sincerity of the exercise Jagdeo embarked on, in finding candidates that the President would find “not unacceptable” to him as per the extant article.
Where is this nonsense coming from that a person cannot have a political association and professionally discharge his or her duties? And why only those who are known to be less than friendly to the PNC but friendlier to the PPP – for e.g. Chairman Doodnauth Singh – must make such persons only acceptable to the PPP and society and Patterson not?
Singh earned the reputation as someone who provided legal services to those who came up against the PNC government. His name was submitted by Desmond Hoyte and he was appointed by a PPP President.
Reasoning is being thrown out the door, which is contributing to further racial and political divisions in this society. The irrational and provocateurs amongst us, regardless of who they are or which office they hold, must be called out and contained.
Lincoln Lewis

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