Heed your own advice first, and I promise that I will follow your lead, Mr. Lewis

Nov 02, 2017 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
The most important right for the animals in George Orwell’s “Animal farm”, in my mind, is “All animals are equal.” As the animals were all “enjoying” this right, the clever swine changed the rule in the middle of the game. What do we have in our country?
Mr. Lincoln Lewis, in his letter in KN of Oct 31st (Halloween Day) got very personal. He stated that my letter to KN on Oct 28th “proves how ‘unbecoming’ the discussions surrounding the constitutional appointment of Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman have become.” I checked the dictionary to get a clear understanding of what “unbecoming” means. The Free dictionary says, unbecoming is “not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite societies.”
The first thought that came to my mind is whether Mr. Lewis is not defining himself. Let me be clear, I believe that Mr. Lewis is an honorable man and he has exposed all sides of the political divide, but you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion whether you agree with it or not.
The fact that the President made the rules regarding the suitability of the person to fill the position of Chairmanship of GECOM, and then changed the rules in the middle of the game is downright deceptive. If the Guyanese people cannot take the President at his word, then we are in serious trouble.
The President laid out the “qualifications” of the person he is looking to fill the post. His qualification then becomes the “rule” of the game, Mr. Lewis. One of the President’s “rules” is that the person should not be a member of a political party.
The mere fact that Justice Patterson was a pall bearer at President Hoyte’s funeral brings into the question the perception that he may be a member of the PNC. As you mentioned, he may have been a friend, but we have to go with logic here. If all of the other pall bearers were members of the PNC at the private funeral of the President, the perception one will entertain is that “all” of the pall bearers are members of the PNC. That perception may be wrong, but someone has to prove that it is wrong. All I am asking is for the President to say whether Justice Patterson is/was a member of the PNC. If he is, then the President disqualifies him from consideration of the Chairmanship of GECOM.
For you to say that the President, having established the “rule” can still appoint someone contrary to his own rule, speaks volumes of you and the President. Those things happen in a “Banana Republic.” Maybe we are living in a banana republic where the politicians can say one thing today and then make a decision tomorrow that contradicts what was said yesterday.
The “nonsense” you speak of in your letter “that a person cannot have a political association and professionally discharge his or her duties” is the nonsense that the President says he does not want, yet he did exactly the opposite. The President says that the person should not be a member of a political party. Your energy is directed to the wrong person, you should take that up with the President.
You seem to be a clear-thinking person, and then you muddy the waters to suit your own agenda. What does Mr. Doodnauth Singh have to do with this? For your edification, the gentleman was nominated by President Hoyte to be considered for the post of GECOM Chair. If you had a problem with that nomination, you should have raised that with President Hoyte when he was putting his list together. Are you saying that President Hoyte did not know that Doodnauth Singh provided legal services to those who came up against the PNC government? See how baseless your arguments are, Mr. Lewis?
My recommendation is that you should adhere to your own advice first. Jesus told us that we need to remove the beam from our eye first, and then take away the moth from our brother’s eye. Reasoning seems to be lacking in your assessment of things, and definitely it does contribute to further racial and political division. You should heed your own advice first, and I promise that I will follow your lead.
Charles Sugrim

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