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OP first, now the AG

Oct 18, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Nervous tensions are building in the upper ranks of the PPP/C Government, becoming more publicly pronounced daily. A government that crows about democracy and its freedoms schemes for new ways to still the few voices that press for clarity and some morsels of fairness and justice in this country.

The PPP/C Government’s efforts to still inquiry and activity related to oil are more than what chills, more than the routine deceptions that are now so abundant. The government’s unrelenting efforts have now become the latest strain of mental corruption that sweetens the political powers, but which sickens the Guyanese people. There is what comes out of the Office of the President (OP), and now quickly followed by a call from the nation’s Attorney General (AG).

The AG made clear where he stands: “I am not against public-spirited citizens filing cases that are important part of democracy, that’s civic duty but again the cases must be just. Their cases can’t be fishing expeditions…”.  It goes without saying that a man of such dexterity would never claim ownership of any undemocratic tendency that bars citizens from reaching to the courts for relief. They find favour, however, only when such cases are what he calls “just.”  The question is who decides whether a case is “just” or unjust. It would appear that the AG, a man of considerable legal charm and verbal creativity has done just so about what is “just” in his mind and, if not, what should be sent packing.

From one side of his mouth, he speaks for the record and sings for the carnival in which he regularly participates, that “cases must be just.” But from the other side, he somehow came up with the contemptuous treatment of “fishing expeditions”. He has seemingly concluded on his own that some of the court cases being filed by activists are not worthy of time or consideration. What is conspicuous is that these “fishing expeditions” masquerading as civic duty (to borrow two sacred words from the AG) have some relationship with Guyana’s new and burgeoning oil and gas sector, economy, and the safety and promise of Guyanese. It could be that the answer for the AG’s call and charge is enmeshed somewhere in there.

What is it about oil and gas questions, court challenges, and commentaries that cause the PPP/C Government and its cabal of functionaries so much agitation?  Why this new innovation and determination that speak so much about what the Government of the Guyanese is about (and who it stands for) to limit, if not curtail, escalation to the court system?  Why are there these deepening distresses in the PPP/C leadership that so much vital energy is wasted to come up with ideas and maneuvers on how to stifle honest dissent in the media?  Why the stout resistance from government when the objective of conscientious citizens doing their professional (civic) duty is for remedies that the government has given short thrift, if not altogether abandoned with caustic finality?  We are sure that the AG would have a readymade answer, but all that such succeeds in doing is dig a deeper hole for his government, and to reveal more to the world of how things really are in this country.

In terms of OP, some smart cookies in there came up with the brilliant advice, now the set standard, of one reporter only per media house, and a maximum of one question.  There was some mumbling about a follow-up question being allowed on a discretionary basis. But, the big brains and the big wheels in OP were not content with what is nothing but unconscionable and draconian suppression, for they have now conjured a creature called the Presidential Press Corps.  Corps it is, for what Guyanese are looking at is the independent media being reduced to a corpse. Why is this even necessary when towering officers of the law in this land (like the AG) speak fluently about freedom, when there are these farces about frivolous cases and one question and now the deadweight of a Presidential Press Corp?

There must be plenty to protect, more to hide, and much more to keep from the eyes of the Guyanese people.

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