The Future of Guyana is uncertain

Dec 31, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
Billions of dollars’ worth of oil is on the horizon for Guyana, but as exploration is in progress by the giant company ExxonMobil, Venezuela has renewed its claim to a large portion of the country’s territory, which includes the oil rich portion.
In fact, the Maduro administration has intensified its claim. It went further to intercept a ship exploring for oil in Guyanese waters. What is even more worrying, Russia is backing the leftist government by adding some greatly increased military muscle in Venezuela.
It is not certain whether the United States will support Guyana in the dispute in the light of President Donald Trump’s interaction with Russia’s President Putin.
At home, a no confidence motion was passed in the National Assembly after a government backbencher, a member of the small coalition AFC party, Charrandass Persaud, supported the PPPC- sponsored motion thus tipping the scale 33-32 in favour of the opposition.
Persaud was deemed a hero by those against the Granger administration but the government supporters call him a “traitor”, Judas, and all sorts of names for ‘jumping ship’.
What is very interesting is that in a televised interview after the Friday vote, he outlined several gripes that he had with the governing party including the domination by the PNC, the senior partner of the coalition.
He contended that he was made to vote against his conscience. He said that the Hamilton Green Pension Bill should never have passed. He criticized Minister Volda Lawrence for stating that she will only give jobs to PNC supporters and for the failure of the AFC leader Raphael Trotman to criticize Lawrence despite his request.
Moreover, he said that the Coalition Government did very little if anything at all to help the dismissed sugar workers.
However, what is disturbing is that Charrandass’s criticisms and reasons for crossing the floor is contrary to his contribution in the Budget Speech, just days before he voted “Yes” for the no confidence motion. In his presentation, he spoke in glowing terms for the administration whom he said did its best for the sugar workers, but the workers wasted their compensation.
He praised the government for doing a fantastic job since assuming office. It seems as if he made a somersault within days and as such, his latter utterances might be suspect.
There is another aspect, which has to be examined, that is, ‘If 33/32 count can topple the government?’ There might be a good argument that attorney Nigel Hughes put forward. He cited two cases: one in Vanuatu and the other in Anguilla.
Although the facts of the Vanuata case are similar to this issue, the Anguilla case is important because the presiding judge in that case was Adrian Saunders who is now President of the CCJ.
Opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo called on the government to resign while the government announced that it will move to the Courts. The latest allegation by PNC strongman, Aubrey Norton, is that Charrandass was bribed by the opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
Norton however did not provide evidence to support his allegation. If the issue reaches the Court, the process will take quite some time because there will be hearing by a single judge and then there might be an appeal to the Guyana Court of Appeal before it reaches the CCJ, which might be presided by Justice Saunders, the Court’s President who most likely will not change his views with the judgment that he issued in 2000 in Anguilla while he was a first instant Judge.
It will be a long haul and the country will be in limbo until the issues are cleared.
Venezuela’s renewed and hostile claim is another worrying issue, but that was an ongoing problem, but with Russia assisting Maduro, it becomes more problematic.
Oscar Ramjeet

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