Over the last four years, your Eyewitness has watched with alarm as the PNC and its opposition partners launched their all-out attack on the PPP in a bid to return to power. Oil money’s a powerful motivator!! Now it’s the goal of all parties to take power; but aren’t there rules?!!
Sadly, the PNC have consistently reminded us over their sixty-odd (very odd!!) years of existence that they don’t give a hoot about rules. Our Constitution, of course, spells out the rules from which all other rules/ laws flow to govern this country; but the PNC flaunted their cynicism to the nation and the world when Burnham scrapped the Independence Constitution and dictated a brand new one – “legalising” the dictatorial powers he’d already been enjoying.
With all of that, though, Burnham always observed the FORMS of legality, even though he ground the SUBSTANCE of the laws into dust. Take elections. Burnham could’ve followed the lead of many tinpot dictators, especially in Africa, and make himself President for life. But he didn’t. He dutifully held elections, which he just as dutifully rigged!! He was of the firm belief that the higher-powers -that-be didn’t care about the fine print, and read only the headlines: “PNC wins elections”!!
He refined rigging to a fine art, and showed creativity in his methods. In 1968, he used the overseas vote and proxies; in 1973, he used the army to seize the ballot boxes, killing some PPP members as collateral damage; in 1980, he again used the army, but refrained from shooting anyone this time. His successor Hoyte rigged a bigger majority than he ever did – by ejecting PPP election agents from polling places and refusing to count ballots at the places of polling.
Fast forward to the present, where the PNC and the Opposition’s pi55ed at Granger for not going ahead with Mingo’s manoeuvres!! Their first move was to kick out Granger and his army cohorts; their second was to replace him with Norton – whose looks announced he is “Willing to rumble in and out of the jungle!!” To their consternation, they forgot the admonition “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, as Norton confined his attacks on the PPP by glowering and not shaking hands!!
But with elections now only a year away, Norton realises he doesn’t need much more than 5000 votes or so to become President. Against the importunings of the erstwhile kingmakers, he’s unveiled a kinder, gentler PNC to attract “nontraditional voters” – who might’ve shied away from their old rough and tough bullyism ways. But that doesn’t mean he’s lost his PNC DNA!! He’s also insisting that the PPP only won in 2020 because they messed around with the “bloated list”! He wants this fixed!
Just observing the legalities like Burnham – to protest violently after losing??
…and sources
One of the institutions the British passed on to us to impart the rules of civilised behaviour is the game of cricket. We learnt on the playing fields of our schools that the rules of cricket are sacrosanct, and the decision of the umpire – who enforces those rules – aren’t to be questioned. It’s just “not cricket!” For instance, the rule of being “out” if you inadvertently back into your stumps may not be “fair”, but that’s the rule, and you walk back to the pavilion. We in the West Indies became noted for walking in all sorts of circumstances, even when the umpire hadn’t noticed our error. WE KNEW, and that’s what mattered for us to keep our honour.
Running a country is serious business, but, ultimately, it comes back to the morality that our leaders were supposed to have imbibed on the cricket fields and in their homes to “do the right thing”.
And “walk” when the rules say so.
…and Mad Maduro
One reason for the existence of voting machines is to prevent rigging – by showing the electronic printout of votes. Why has the majority of Caricom rejected asking that these printouts be shown to prove Mad Maduro really won??
