Stand up comedy has gone to a different level in Guyana

Jun 26, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

A letter appearing in KN on Sunday 23rd June, titled “Hats off to the CCJ; it is the real deal”, by Oscar Dolphin, is a perfect example of content betrayal of caption or vice versa.
Oscar begins with article 9, ““Sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives”. Then he ventures to say, “Charrandass Persaud, who was selected to represent the persons that delivered a majority to the APNU+AFC in the last election, chose to flout this basic, fundamental democratic principle and deliver his vote to the PPP/C in support of its no-confidence motion against the government.”
The total representatives of the people in parliament is 65 and the ”persons that delivered a majority to the APNU+AFC in the last election” (Oscar words) only provided them with 33 representatives, other persons provide the opposition with 32 representatives, leaving the Government with a majority of one.
Since the people exercise their sovereignty through their representatives (article 9) and not the Government, the representatives are beholden to the people and are given the rights to exercise the people’s sovereignty as they see it fit, contrary or in unison with Government or opposition.
For Oscar to say that Charrandass Persaud flouted this basic fundamental democratic principle in voting “yes” in the No Confidence Motion is flawed, illogical, and in contrast to article 9 of our constitution. Our constitutional framers never intended to allow governments to be lackadaisical, oppressive or inconsiderate to the wishes of the people, so they passed the buck to the representatives of the people to decide and they provided the tools by instituting a vote of confidence in the constitution for them to do so. What is so difficult to comprehend about this?
Oscar wrote, “APNU+AFC received a majority of votes and seats in parliament following the last elections but are deemed to be defeated by fraud and conspiracy not prohibited by the constitution)”. This is utter nonsense.
The CCJ cited the president for introducing new eligibility rules and for not giving reasons for his rejection of the list of six nominees submitted by the opposition leader. To Oscar, “this judgement is not clearly understood”.
So he conveniently ventures to give the readers article 161(2) “summarized” – rather than quoting 161(2) in its entirety.
His summary, “the Leader of the Opposition, after meaningful consultation with the non-governmental political parties represented in the National Assembly, shall submit a list of 6 persons to the President who shall appoint the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission; the list shall include persons who have held office as a judge, or who are qualified to be appointed as a judge.”
Conveniently Oscar’s summary omits, “or any other fit and proper person”.
This is how biased people operate! They shelve things around and delete what will not promote their intent. Bias is like an external disease – try as they would, its victims cannot hide its symptoms!
How about a caption like, “Hats off to the CCJ; it is the real deal” and a content that is derogatory, condemnatory, and seeks to question the decisions of the said CCJ? Oscar wrote, “it seems to be unreasonable and blatantly discriminatory and unfair to then require that the President provide reasons for non-acceptance of such naked lists and a clarification should be necessary”. Certainly not the kind of phrases one would expect in salutation – a “hats off” scenario!
Oscar continued his summary, “These persons should not be unacceptable to the President and should be fit and proper persons.” Ironically! Oscar’s entire summary is exactly what the president had pontificated prior to his unilateral appointment of Patterson for Gecom chair.
You have to admire the loyalty of the coalition supporters. They will proudly run with anything their leaders hand to them, as if they are carrying the Olympic torch! For example, “No house to house registration no election” is an old torch now relit after the CCJ decision.
Oscar is not bothered by the fact that the unilateral appointment by the president had usurped a 23-year-old orthodox method of appointing a Gecom chair, a method that was instituted to avoid the said unilateral appointment that was cited in the past as the source for rigged elections. What bothers Oscar, in his own words, is that – “it seems to be accepted that since the PPP/C is the sole non-governmental political party in the National Assembly, the Opposition Leader is not required to consult with anyone outside the party that he leads and can, unilaterally, nominate 6 persons” without providing their CV’s to ”assist the president in making a selection.”
Oscar is correct; to his disbelief. Why does Oscar consider this so bothersome? There is no other Non Governmental party in the Assembly. The CV for Gecom chair is more character-based than education-based. Is the president so lacking in investigative skill that Oscar wants the opposition leader to help him? Does Oscar want to insinuate a new clause in article 161(2) of the constitution to address his contentions? This is grossly ludicrous!
Stand up comedy has gone to a different level in Guyana.
Rudolph Singh

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