Lil Joe: A big monarch falls

Aug 20, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I remember a set of us from the media were talking about the July 2015 gazette when it came out. It listed the legal jurisdictions of the Cabinet members. It was there and then, Guyana knew that the prime minister in actual power was not second to the president.
That person was the minister of the presidency – Joe Harmon. Harmon had 18 areas that his authority extended to, compared with four for the PM. In APNU+AFC’s five years in office, the PM was virtually a ceremonial figure never before seen since Guyana converted to executive presidency. Every PM since then – Ptolemy Reid, Desmond Hoyte, Hamilton Green, Sam Hinds – had portfolios that were substantial with real authority over their designated areas.
The exception was Moses Nagamootoo. It was indeed a shameless episode in the life of the APNU+AFC regime. Harmon had the ultimate say in every ministry. When the Minister of Public Infrastructure refused to renew the lease of an Ogle airport businessman, the ministry of the presidency approved it.
The ministry of the presidency had legal authority to reject any policy direction or override any decision of any ministry. The Prime Minister had the portfolio for the state media. When the board removed the Chronicle general manager, Sherod Duncan, the PM reappointed him.
The ministry of the presidency rejected the continuation of Duncan when it argued he could not reclaim his position because the Chronicle’s board would have to approve it and there was no board in place at the time when the PM made his decision. Such was the power of that ministry headed by “Lil Joe” or Joe Shanlin,” nicknames given to Harmon by the satirical column in this newspaper, “Dem Boys Seh.”
Harmon refused to resign when his party lost power. And his reason is as comical as it has been since he became the frontman for the APNU+AFC’s bandwagon of fraudulent election. It is worth reminding the Guyanese people of how inept and unacceptable is the leadership of David Granger when one takes into consideration the abominable antics of Harmon during the five month election saga.
He employed an American public relations firm –JJ&B – to lobby the US government and US lawmakers that APNU+AFC had won a handsome victory. The dossier the firm submitted listed President Granger as an American citizen, obviously highlighting to the Guyanese people that the president had committed a criminal offence when he signed his candidacy papers for the elections.
Lil Joe (an ironic sobriquet because Harmon is more than six feet tall) told the nation that the use of JJ&B was important because the government had to defend itself. Three deformities surrounded Joe Shanlin. One was that Granger denounced his description of him being an American citizen. Secondly, the Guyana government did not contest the 2020 election because governments do not do so; only political parties do. Thirdly, the president as head of government and party told the nation that he knew nothing about the employment of JJ&B and the dossier.
If Granger was a competent leader, he would have immediately fired Lil Joe. Last week, the PNC elevated Lil Joe into its executive committee and Leader of the Opposition. This is the same PNC that criticized the composition of the PPP Cabinet and rejected Kwame McCoy as a minister. A graphic case of pot telling his “matee”, his bottom is black.
So Joe Shanlin told the Attorney General, Mr. Anil Nandlall, he is not resigning from the ministry of the presidency. He has applied for two months leave. He also told the AG that he does not recognize his authority and the legality of the government. So if Lil Joe stays on, who will be his boss? Which government will he be working with? The entire saga stinks to high heaven but more importantly, there must be a reason why Harmon is behaving like that.
It is not easy for a normal mind to understand why Harmon is behaving like this. We are talking about the fall of a monarch. Hilary Clinton went into a state of depression when she lost to Trump. The entire world thought she would have mauled Trump at the election because the world thought Trump was simply unelectable. We mortals could not put ourselves into the mind of Clinton to understand the mental anguish, which she was enduring.
With huge power, second only to the president and with Granger being a lackluster president, Harmon had monarchial power. Such authority would have reached greater heights with the massive oil revenues coming in. And to think he will never be a king again. Joe is too confused to face reality.

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