Dear Editor
IT has been contended in your column, in so many letters, that the 23 years of the PPP/C ‘s regime governance has resulted in a new morality. The passage of time has indeed proven such a contention correct, because of the plethora of evidence that have been continuously underlining this view.
There is a new meaning of wrong as against what is right, and this has been because of the unchecked advancement of corruption and other venalities that had become the new barometer for acquisition of both personal gain and material gratification, in which it mattered not the route towards possession, once its goal had been achieved. What this created was a category of the nouveau riche, whereby its new members, conscious of the social status and power which their newly acquired wealth accorded them, and the patronage and protection under which they sheltered, flaunted their untouchable status, even before the eyes of the law, who would have felt helpless in bringing criminal charges against them, due to complaints filed. The law had been aware of the powerful political connections which this class had, thus placing them beyond their reach.
One will recall all those voices that had once spoke out against this parasitical collective and their lecherous deeds; not so many, to be precise, as those who recently crawled out from their woodwork with hypocritical voices that seek to condemn a President who has led by all moral examples, and his coalition government which governance has sought to introduce an entirely new understanding of respect for the law; upholding of human rights, and respect for the constitutional organ of the state, such as the autonomy and the right of GECOM to administrate the holding of free, fair and transparent elections, without the interference of the Executive. The daily attacks on this critical organ of state by the political opposition and its clique of political carnivores, supported by the shocking silence of the supposed elders of conscience, but who have been finally exposed as nothing but a bunch of full-time hypocrites, will be the political topic for years to come.
For a section of this country not to be outright in condemning acts of politically immoral behaviour, moreover, seeking shelter behind the facilitating veneer of their political party, cannot bode well for the often demanded moral behaviour, so often demanded and expected of the nation’s young people. It makes no good sense, a grave contradiction for any child to be aware that his/her parent is becoming enriched by illegal means, stealing; but then listens to the news/read in the papers that a citizen, a low-down dangerous snatcher, as far as that youngster is concerned, is sent to jail for the offence, which pales in scope to what he/she is aware is being carried out by a parent. If this is the new moral norm, then those guilty of such criminal indecencies are guilty of undermining the future spiritual and moral development of the very young, while concomitantly distorting their understanding of being citizens, in its true sense.
It is a shame, in every way a serious degradation of the standard of a political party’s choice of a presidential candidate, that had been selected as nominee, really a puppet, for the nation’s highest office, despite being before the court for 19 criminal charges, and whose academic certification is as cloudy and questionable, because of the contradictions that have arisen about their origins. It does not become any better, when our mainstream diplomatic community has struck up a more than cosy relationship with such a candidate. Notable has been the absence of those very so-called conscientious citizens, none of whose voices had ever been raised in protestation over the scandal of the PPP/C presidential nominee and his “Uitvlugt University” certification. But it is interesting to note that one of them spoke about the president having a last chance to ‘’redeem himself’’.
All that the president insisted on, as he still would do, is for GECOM to do its constitutional duty. How convenient that this particular Guyanese to not remember, as well as the others, to give such a ‘’last chance for redemption’’ advice to a political party candidate, for him to produce his academic credentials. Obviously, a case that reeks of kith-and-kin politics, but which also poses very grave negatives/consequences for the question of personal integrity and propriety. Can such persons ever be concerned about a nation rising above immoral behaviour, irrespective of the race of the person involved? Let them search their consciences, if they have any.
Let me remind the eminent lady representative of the United States, a traditional friend of Guyana. Some moons ago, the Bharrat Jagdeo administration was informed by the then government of the US that it was not going to support his appointment of the late Henry Greene, as Commissioner of Police, whom he went on to appoint. The latter reason was – that the long-departed commissioner had allegedly benefitted from the proceeds of drug trafficking. His visas were also withdrawn, standard procedure for those blacklisted for such reasons by the US. Now, for the sake of argument, Greene was never charged for such an offence, but given the all-seeing reach of US intelligence sources they had such information. It is only fair that one should ask, why the cosy, cosy treatment of the PPP/C presidential nominee? Is this the new norm of diplomatic conduct, as governs the US treatment of a candidate of such a tainted background, who vies for the highest office of his/her country? At least Canada has made him persona non grata.
Editor, such an example has given impetus to the further perception in this country that it is the new morality as far as any citizen is concerned, that may wish to vie for such high office with such a shady background. Simply put, it cannot, and does not, assist in any way, a country that has been doing its best to re-direct a new trajectory of moral decency and personal integrity for any holder or would be holder of any level of state office, after such desultory examples of the past.
Regards
Aditya Panday
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_05_04_2020