AFC turned out to be the biggest hoax played on Guyana (Part 2)

Dear Editor,
Since the President is arrogating unto himself morality as the justification for his actions toward nomination of Public Officials, I find it instructive to examine the President’s actions with respect to the whole drug bond scenario.
Dr George Norton, as Hon Minister of Public Health, lied to Parliament and was involved in a corrupt negotiation, and yet he is still fit and proper, intelligent, impartial, and with the integrity to run the Ministry of Social Cohesion. Former Acting Commissioner of Police Mr David Ramnarine was heavily criticised for transferring fallen Police officers, yet it is okay to transfer a corrupt Minister of Government to a new Ministry. Worse yet, Dr. George Norton is now the Vice-Chairman of the PNCR.
Contrast the actions of Kamla Persaud-Bissessar, who fired eleven Ministers in four years while she was Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.
It has become clear that posturing by the President about ‘fit and proper’ and integrity and decency has no deep moral centre. It is all an act put on to penetrate the independence of the Guyana Public Service and to insert his choices into strategic positions.
The AFC also asked the people of this nation to lynch the corrupt PPP officials, but forgive the AFC officials. We must still put our trust and faith in Nigel and Cathy Hughes after the entire Sithe-Global conflict of interest fiasco. I reiterate that double standards imply no standards.
And this is a very sad situation for the People of this nation. A lot of us feel saddened, but we must arise from this depression.
What we have in Government is a set of opportunists pursuing an agenda that the people of this country did not set. The single member of the administration who has voiced genuine concern for the wishes of the people is the Hon Jaipaul Sharma. The actions of this Government, including the breaches of the constitution, the contempt for the Carter Process, and recent calls for the National Assembly to appoint Commissioners, must be interpreted in the context of the double standards they have shown us. An alarm has been sounded throughout the nation. It has become clear to me that the citizens of this country have a problem of dictatorship on their hands, and the potential for electoral malpractice is evident.
Can we, the citizens of this nation, do more than just shake our heads in disbelief at our unfortunate circumstances?
As a child, I lived through the PNC dictatorship, and was at home hearing the wailing from the funeral procession of Dr Walter Rodney, who gave his life for this country. As a child, adults fought and paid with their lives for me to enjoy free and fair elections and an independent press. As an adult, I inherited a democracy that was hard earned. Now, as an adult, I am shocked to see a reversal and a callous trampling of the democratic values and practices that were so hard earned.
Adults of today have a responsibility to create a stable political future, so that our children’s tomorrow may be free of this blight of dictatorship, corruption and political instability.
While I was a graduate student at the Royal Holloway University in the UK, our backyard and playground were the fields of Runnymede, where the historic Magna Carta was sealed in 1215. We have inherited a British political infrastructure, but we did not endure the centuries-long struggle of the British people, nor have we endured the struggles of the American people for freedom. Let us be clear that our struggle is not one of PPP vs PNC politics. It is a relatively young struggle for a democratic political culture, an ideal that Government should be of the people, for the people and by the people.
When we are governed by ideals, our politics can be graceful. Statesmen and women are elevated into politics by their virtues, not their greed and ambition and gerrymandering. Politics is an act of servant leadership, not to be engaged in for personal remuneration. While the politicians reveal to us daily who they are, we, the people of this country, must hold onto our centre and be the source of light in the darkness.
Our struggle for democracy in this country continues, and as we stay calm and press on with it, when we feel afraid to voice our opinions and we feel oppressed by legislation, we must remember that people must not be afraid of their Governments, but Governments must be afraid of their people.

Sincerely,
Sandra Khan