‘Person of the Year’ for 2018 is…

Dec 30, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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One week ago, there was a clear frontrunner for this column’s ‘Person of the Year’ for 2018. But in Guyana things can change overnight.
One week ago, the frontrunners for this column’s ‘Person of the Year’ Award were Dr. Glenn Lall, Mr. Christopher Ram, Bharrat Jagdeo, Volda Lawrence, and Quincy Mc Ewan et al.
As at November 13th 2018, the most defining event in Guyana’s history was the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which ruled that Guyana’s cross-dressing laws were unconstitutional and should be amended.
This is a landmark judgment in regional jurisprudence and overturned a decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal. It constituted a major victory for the appellants Quincy Mc Ewan, Seon Clarke, Joseph Fraser, Seyon Persaud and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD).
The first four appellants had been charged in 2009 with wearing female attire and later brought action against the State for violations of their constitutional rights. They also challenged sections of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, which makes it a crime for a man to dress like a woman. The CCJ found that the said Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act infringed the appellants’ right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution of Guyana, and ordered that the relevant section be struck from the laws of Guyana.
The decision represents the most significant ruling of the CCJ for 2018 and is a major development in protecting sexual orientation rights in the Caribbean. For this reason, the appellants were considered as frontrunners for the award of ‘Person of the Year’ Award for 2018.
This year also saw the publisher of this newspaper, Mr. Glenn Lall, being conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy and Humane Letters for his contribution to journalism, business and philanthropy. The award was made by the Canadian International Chaplaincy Association. It remains a great pity that Glenn, despite his immense contribution to press freedom, is yet to be honoured by his own nation.
Doctor Glenn Lall has demonstrated again this year his consistency in exposing wrongdoing within government. The Kaieteur News, his newspaper, is now considered the foremost watchdog against corruption. For his role as a champion against corruption, Glenn was a frontrunner for the ‘Person of the Year’ Award.
Volda Lawrence, the Minister of Public Health, has been in the political limelight in 2018. She created a major upset when she defeated Basil Williams and Joseph Harmon for the post of Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform.
Ms. Lawrence’s political triumphs placed her in a position to capture not just the award for Person of the Year, but also to be a frontrunner to succeed David Granger as Leader of the PNCR. However, subsequent controversial statements have caused her political capital to decline considerably, and all but squash her chances of becoming her party’s leader or Presidential candidate in 2019 and beyond.
She had been eclipsed for the award of ‘Person of the Year’ by two other individuals. The first of these was Christopher Ram, a lawyer and accountant who has been one of the staunchest advocates of transparent government. Ram’s role in exposing the appalling agreement Guyana signed with oil giant Exxon Mobil had all but cemented his claim to being the Person of the Year for 2018.
Ram has always been among the frontrunners for this annual award by this column, but it has always regrettably and narrowly evaded him. He deserved it this year. He however was again to be denied this year because of events in November, and one week ago.
Local government elections were held in November 2018 and the PPPC benefitted from a dismal performance by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and, to a lesser extent, the Alliance for Change (AFC).
Admiration has to be offered for the leadership of the PPP. Bharrat Jagdeo has been a political juggernaut, mobilizing and reenergizing his party’s political base in 2016, and then astutely making small inroads into un-traditional constituencies in 2018. For his leadership and the commanding performance of the PPPC in the 2018 local government elections, the Budget debate and the debate on the no-confidence motion, Jagdeo was a sure frontrunner for ‘Person of the Year’.
This year’s award, however, must go to another person who has left the government in a daze. For voting his conscience and in support of the co-confidence motion, Mr. Charrandass Persaud has had the greatest impact on Guyana’s political landscape in 2018. Whatever the political and judicial shenanigans that will ensue in the next few weeks, the name of Charrandass Persaud is eternalized in Guyana’s political chronicles. He is the ‘Person of the Year’ for 2018.

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