Fmr Coalition Minister’s principled stance against election rigging hailed by Govt

…as Queen’s College celebrates 180th anniversary with packed special assembly

On the occasion of Queen’s College’s 180th anniversary, both students and adults were extolled by President Dr Irfaan Ali, to choose the right paths and to stand up for their principles, in much the same way former coalition Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, stood up for democratic principles when he took his stand against his coalition colleagues.
While addressing hundreds of students, alumni, cabinet Ministers and other dignitaries, at a special General Assembly on Monday, President Ali paid tribute to Gaskin, who was present at the anniversary ceremony, as well as other notable products of Queen’s College who embody the school’s values in their professional endeavors.
“In my humble view, staying true to the traditions of this institution and the value system of this institution is by honoring it. And the only way you can honor it is by living it every day, like Dominic Gaskin taught us to do. Like retired Major General Joe Singh, Paulione Chase. And many others,” the Head of State said.

“All the members of the judiciary. The cabinet. The legislature. All of you, collectively, must live the values and traditions of this institution. An important measure of whether you’re living the values and traditions of this institution, (is asking) am I a benefit to humanity and society? Very simple question.”
President Ali further noted that persons must question whether they wake up with the intention of being the best version of themselves in the interest of society, or whether they wake up with the intention of bringing down others and creating conflict.
Meanwhile, present at the ceremony was Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, who also lauded Gaskin for his principled stand and reiterated the meaning of Queen’s College’s motto, Fideles Ubique Utiles ‘Faithful and Useful Everywhere’.
“To the students here, faithful and useful everywhere. Begin by being kind to your classmates. By being more aware than I was (at your age), about what their needs might be. To the adults, faithful and useful everywhere. Faithful to what? Faithful to the school, to righteous causes, faithful to the laws of Guyana,” Minister Manickchand said.
“Faithful to the constitution, faithful to goodness, faithful to democracy and democratic principles, faithful to your families, faithful to the country. We can’t deny that we’ve produced some menaces, because we have. Choose not to be a menace to the people around you, to the society, to the country. Choose to be a Dominic Gaskin. When the circumstances demanded it, he did the right thing.”
While appearing on The Freddie Kissoon Show last week, Gaskin – the son-in-law of former President David Granger and a former Executive Member of the AFC – had predicted that because of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government’s actions at the last elections, the current ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will win next year’s polls.
This was a reiteration of a point he made back in 2020 during the five tumultuous months when the APNU/AFC Coalition held the country hostage after losing the March 2, 2020 elections and refused to demit office. In fact, even after a CARICOM-led national recount confirmed the PPP/C electoral victory, the David Granger-led Coalition regime continued with its delay tactics by moving to the courts.
Days after the March polls, in the height of the electoral deadlock, Gaskin had broken ranks with the Coalition and spoke out against the attempts to rig the elections – something which he continued in the following months before the Granger Administration finally conceded defeat and the PPP/C was finally declared the winner of those polls on August 2, 2020.
According to Gaskin, during his recent appearance on the televised programme, because of what took place in 2020, the AFC and the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led APNU, need to demonstrate to the Guyanese public that they are prepared to recognise the will of the people at the next election. (G3)