ALL THAT JAZZ

Apr 18, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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A report in another section of the media indicated that former Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary, Mr. Carl Greenidge, was no longer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It quoted a source as saying that he “just wants to listen to his Jazz and think for a while”.
The public is now also getting to listen to jazz… this time compliments of the de facto government. It is now being reported that there is a protocol that after elections the slate has to be wiped clean. It is said that Mr. Greenidge’s removal from the Foreign Ministry is part of that protocol of cleaning the slate. This explanation sounds like ‘jazz’.
How does one reconcile there being such a protocol but only Mr. Greenidge appears to have been affected by its implementation. By extension should the post of Director- General of the Ministry of the Presidency not also been wiped off the slate?
There is no need to wipe anybody off of any slate. Once the election results are declared, the entire slate is going to be wiped clean regardless of which party is declared the winner. So why has only one person been wiped off the slate and why was this done before the results of the elections have been officially declared?
If that were not sufficient jazz, we now have this cock-and-bull explanation about the payment for a lobbying firm. The government has no authority to contract. It is no longer a caretaker government. Elections have been held; it is now merely in a ‘holding’ mode- this is the mode which kicks in between elections and the swearing-in of a new President. In most countries, this is one or two days but in Guyana more than one month has passed and still a new government is not in place.
Political parties contest elections, not governments. And therefore any “Dossier” which bears the stamp of the APNU+AFC is not a document which can purport to represent the government. It represents that political grouping which contested the elections.
APNU+AFC is free to hire whoever it wants to lobby for its. But it cannot do this in the name of the Government of Guyana. The lobbying firm which it has hired cannot lobby on behalf of the government. It can lobby on behalf of the political grouping which is its clients and which contested the elections and whose supporters are reportedly paying for the lobbyist’s services.
Funds by supporters of the Coalition cannot be deployed to protect the image and reputation of the government. It would amount to misrepresentation if the lobbying firm purports to represent the Government of Guyana. The firm’s mission is not to salvage the image of the government; it is to undertake a counter-narrative to the effect that the PPPC would be part of a Russian-China axis in the Caribbean region. This is case of jazz and more jazz.
But if that were not enough jazz, we now have the suspension of the food hampers which were being distributed by the Civil Defence Commission. The ‘pause’ of this initiative is said to be because of the need to ensure sustainability as to ensure that the right people get the hampers or so the public is being told.
What the public is not being told is that there is simply no money available for this exercise. Any government can only spend a certain amount (I believe it may be one-twelfth of the previous year’s expenditure) during the period from the start of the fiscal year to the approval of the Budget. With wages and salaries to be paid, there is simply no money available to be put into the CDC to share out hampers.
All this talk therefore about putting different systems in place sounds like jazz. If there are no funds to pay for the supplies, then there can be no hampers. And no one wants to take a chance of breaching the financial regulations to purchase items for distribution when there will be question marks as to the legality of such funds.
All of these things are happening because of the long delay in having a transparent and credible declaration of the results of the elections. Once there is a transparent and credible declaration, the slate will then be wiped clean and monies will be made available for food hampers and all the other things needed to fight the pandemic. The longer it takes to resolve the elections, the longer it will take for monies to be released to deal with the pandemic and its effects. The longer it takes for a new parliament, the longer it will be before funds can be sourced locally. The longer it takes for a legitimate government to be in place, the longer will be the wait for international help.
The Nick Straker Band once sang these lyrics: “A little bit of Jazz tonight. Makes you feel alright.”
You can feel alright listening to the APNU+AFC’s jazz but unless the elections are concluded, there will be more jazz than you can handle. And none of it can be taken to the bank or can fill your children empty bellies.

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

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