Different strokes for different folks

Jun 24, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

It is part of unwritten conventions that governments should not sign major agreements or make major appointments after the dissolution of parliament in preparation for elections. Yet, we are witnessing these conventions being honoured in the breach.
The reasons for conventions are two-fold: firstly, since parliament is dissolved Ministers are no longer accountable to parliament and therefore should restrain the exercise of authority. The rule is intended to ensure that Ministers or their officers do not abuse their positions of authority.
Secondly, there is the possibility that a government may not be re-elected and therefore it should not engage in major agreements which would bind another incoming government. Anne Twomey, a Professor of Constitutional Law and the University of Sydney, explained that it would be unfair if a (potentially) outgoing government bind a future government just before it comes into office. “If it could do so, a losing government could leave all kinds of booby-traps or impose enormous financial commitments upon its successor.”
It is therefore politically indefensible for any government to be engaged in the sale of prime lands and the disposal of assets just prior to or during the course on an election. It is more unjustifiable for a government to be moving forward with agreements when it is merely in a holding mode.
The APNU+AFC has been designated a caretaker government by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The CCJ in its judgments of July 12th 2019 had noted, “By convention, the government is expected to behave during this interim period as a caretaker and so restrain the exercise of its legal authority.”
APNU+AFC, however, has not been restrained in the exercise of its legal authority. It has been carrying on since December 2018 as if it is business as usual. It took ingenuous steps to frustrate the effect of the no-confidence motion and now it appears willing to benefit from the greatest electoral heist committed in the western hemisphere in more than 30 years.
The APNU+AFC had been defeated in a confidence motion since December 2018. It was supposed to have called elections within three months. From the moment it was defeated, it ought to have known that it was constrained in terms of what agreements it could have entered into.
Yet, we keep reading about land deals being signed by the APNU+AFC government. Incredibly some of these sales are being advertised in the Official Gazette after the elections but before the swearing-in of a new government. This clearly is outside of the political conventions. No deals should have been made prior to just after the elections.
One company was able to acquire prime riverside land. The price paid raised eyebrows. And this newspaper has been reporting on the sale of prime lands on the East Coast. Why the haste in concluding these deals?
The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has sought to justify these transactions pointing out that the original agreement was signed since December 2019 but are only now being completed. But this in itself makes them inappropriate since the CCJ had six months earlier, since July 2019, deemed the government as caretaker administration which means it should have been constrained in making such agreements.
NICIL is also pointing to the need for finance for the sugar corporation. But it seems to have forgotten that it took a G$30B loan, secured by the government to support the sugar industry. The need for money for GuySuCo therefore does not explain the haste in these prime land sales.
It is very disconcerting to have read that GuySuCo lands are vested with NICIL. This is shocking revelation and one which needs further explanation since the sugar company is a body corporate and therefore has legal rights to its lands. It should state how these lands came to be vested to NICIL.
The Opposition had signalled very early that it would not recognize these deals. And therefore it was a risky decision by those who entered into these agreements, knowing that they will not necessarily be honoured by any new government.
What is most disconcerting though is the mad rush to conclude these deals when there are thousands of small persons who have applied for land but have not yet been approved. It reminds one of the old adage “different strokes for different folks”.

(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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Different strokes for different folks

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