The PPP Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance (MoPAG), Gail Teixeira, has called on the Police to investigate threats she claims were made by Leader of the Opposition (LoO), Aubrey Norton, against GECOM Chair Justice (rtd) Claudette Singh. Now, this is serious stuff – especially when the call’s made at a time when our Police are under fire (metaphorically!!) for not investigating a notorious murder, and might be a bit trigger happy (metaphorically speaking!!) to haul in and grill the LoO (metaphorically speaking!!), or worse!!
So, what are these alleged threats?? Well, so’s not to put words that might be construed as setting-up anybody, your Eyewitness will take pains (metaphorically speaking!) to quote the folks involved. After citing various and sundry calls made by Norton, insisting that Madam Singh be “removed”, the MoPAG insisted, “these threats and verbal attacks expose a sinister plot to bully and intimidate a former Judge and the Chairperson of GECOM – established to protect the right of the Guyanese people to vote for a Government of their choice…” Well!!!
And what exactly did Norton say?? Well, as far back as March of this year, Norton was quoted as telling the visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti, Barbara Feinstein: “We raised with them the fact that…the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission is not independent. …she votes on every occasion with the PPP; (like) to break the rules to make a CEO who is not qualified for the job. And so she is partisan, and our mantra must be…Claudette Singh must go!”!!
Since then, Norton has strenuously maintained the call that “Claudette MUST GO!!” Never missed an opportunity!! And earlier this month, he reiterated at his Press Conference, “…we do not see elections being held with a bloated list and with Claudette Singh as Chairman, and there are many things we can do to put the pressure on the Elections Commission and Claudette Singh, but we have first given her the opportunity to tender her resignation…so we have left the door open, and we hope we don’t have to close it and Claudette Singh will do the decent thing and resign.”
Now, this doesn’t sound too bad, does it?? But everything’s CONTEXTUAL!! And the context is if Mr Norton can label President Ali’s offer of a simple HANDSHAKE as “bullying”, then his continuous threats to “pressure” Singh to resign gotta be seen as bullying!!
In Australia, for instance, there’s a “Brodie Rule” that demands Police action if there’s been “harassment and intimidation over a period of time”!!
Brodie was a female who’d been bullied and committed suicide. Did Norton sufficiently lower the bar on “bullying” to fail the Brodie Test???
Politicians gotta be thick-skinned!!
…by China??
Again, because of the sensitive nature of this topic, your Eyewitness is gonna stick as close as he can to the record – in this case a UN Report just released by departing U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. The report asserts that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in China’s western province of Xinjiang “in the context of the Government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-’extremism’ strategies.”
Rights groups have long accused Beijing of abuses against Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labour in internment camps. The US has accused China of genocide. In charges that have been circulating for decades about Chinese internment and torture “re-education” camps, the Report continued, “The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups… may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
As before, China has steadfastly denied these charges. Your Eyewitness expects China would allow an impartial investigation.
…common sense??
Jamaica’s increasing its potato acreage by 14,000 hectares by handing out “spuds” and equipment to farmers. And this is against the point made by Opposition MP Hannah that the cost of the potatoes is EIGHT TIMES THE COST OF IMPORTS!!
