Just in case you missed Sanjeev Datadin

Sep 05, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

On Tuesday night, I hosted attorney Sanjeev Datadin on the programme on Kaieteur Radio named “The Legal Mind.” As the technical operator signaled it was time to close, I offered Sanjeev my opinion based on the action of the APNU and AFC leadership since the no-confidence vote (NCV) in December 2018.
I told him I see a tampered election coming up. I gleamed from the action so far of the political leadership of the government, a temperament of not wanting to give up power. Then I offered Sanjeev, my prediction. If the results show a APNU+AFC defeat, the APNU+AFC leaders will cite what they claim is an irregularity somewhere in one of the Regions, argue it could have changed the results, and file an election petition. The election petition will be the fulcrum on which they will not accept defeat, because they will argue that it is unwise to leave government when the final court decision could prove that the contentious irregularity was illegal and did affect the shape of the election results.
I was walking my dog in the National Park the same day in the morning when Peter Ramsaroop approached me. Of course, the GECOM controversy took up all of our exchange. I gave him my theory, which is outlined above. He intoned that he is concerned about rigging, but he thinks the PNC has a huge problem if they rig. He believes the PNC need to retain the AFC’s fifty thousand votes to win a minority presidency and since those votes are lost to the AFC, it will not be easy to acquire fifty thousand false or illegal or improper ballots.
Now interestingly, Sanjeev Datadin said he is pessimistic, but he doesn’t share the quantum of my pessimism. Then as we were about to go off air, Sanjeev informed me of something I do not have access to. He described a horror show of hate taking place on social media by people who support APNU+AFC. He stated that these people are on a regime of dangerous incitement. He even cited the Chronicle.
I cannot see what Sanjeev sees on social media. I am really not interested in Facebook. I do not have a smartphone, though I must confess Glenn Lall agreed to buy the latest version for me, but I declined. From what the Chronicle publishes, I can comprehend the fear of Sanjeev. The editor of the Chronicle has far exceeded the excesses of the sycophantic editor under the presidencies of Jagdeo and Ramotar. Read the Chronicle since the NCV and those who criticise Exxon need to focus their attention on this tragic land that was self-destructive long before Exxon discovered oil here.
Read what Barrington Braithwaite, Tacuma Ogunseye and Moses Nagamootoo said about the character of Charrandass Persaud and you will see an unchanging Chronicle, which personifies an unchanging tragic land. I am bamboozled by the insane frequency of the condemnations of Exxon, but no condemnation of the hate Sanjeev said is currently threatening Guyana.
Fortunately for me, I do not see the semantic miasma on Facebook , but I will cite an incident for you that tells me about the kinds of things Sanjeev has to watch on social media. My wife is a witness. She will never support a fiction I published in these columns and cite her as proof. What you are about to read came from one of the most recognisable names in Guyana, the Caribbean Region and among Guyanese in New York.
I was in the kitchen with my wife when he called me after the NCV. He described “everything” about the NCV. How much money Charrandass got, who were the key players (he even named the main actor -who he claimed was a female), how the deal was arranged. I was incensed. If he were not a friend, I would have done a Ramjattan on him with the exclamation, “haul ya ass.” I simply asked how come he is far away in New York, and ruling politicians, journalists, business people and other strategically placed actors in Guyana did not have this information.
Brace yourself for a heart attack. You know what this well known, serious Guyanese personality told me? He said the top brass of the government knew about the Charrandass deal and how Charran would have voted. I will leave it at that.
If my friend wants to identify himself by replying to this article here well, the debate will begin. If this influential personality can tell me such impossibilities, then I shudder to think what goes on social media. I guess I will be reading more and more about Exxon. Please! Please!

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)