…towards tyranny
Looking at the detritus left in the wake of WWI, Yeats saw portents of even greater dangers ahead. He ended his poem, “The Second Coming”, by asking prophetically, “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, /Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” Looking over the record of the PNC-led coalition Government, your Eyewitness is driven to echo Yeats’s plaintive cry: what rough beast of governance slouches towards our beleaguered Guyana at this time?
The signs are unmistakable, and Guyanese of all inclinations and allegiances must be made aware of the dangers posed by the PNC to the future of our hard-won democracy. The danger was signalled by the remilitarisation of the Government, taking it beyond anything Burnham tried. The dictator had used the pretext of the Venezuelan threat on our western border to increase the armed forces, where we had the greatest army-civilian ratio in the world: 1 soldier with an automatic rifle to every 35 citizens!! The Police Force had been joined by the GDF, GNS, Peoples Militia; Cadet Corps in the Disciplined Forces, augmented by the armed YSM and WRSM, not to mention goon squads like the House of Israel.
Those troops, however, were never deployed to any western front to take on the Venezuelans, who had seized our half of Ankoko Island. They remained strategically positioned at Camp Ayanganna and Camp Stephenson to guard the PNC against threats in Demerara.
We must note that Granger has brought those outfits back to their old Burnhamite strength – but has now placed ex-military officers in every branch of the civilian Government. Much like the Communist Party Commissars were deployed during Communist Russia’s heyday, Granger doesn’t have to worry about the bureaucracy. With his exclusive control of the Executive branch of Government via the Executive Presidency sanctioned by Burnham’s 1980 Constitution and his army fifth columnists, Granger also controls the Legislature, which should’ve been a check on his excesses. So what’s left to prevent a tyrannical dictatorship? Just our Judiciary, with powers to interpret the Constitution as they see fit, guided by the unalterable basic structure encompassed by that document.
And it is for this reason citizens must see past Granger’s avuncular, Simon pure façade and appreciate the dangers posed by his sustained attack on the judiciary ever since he slid into office.
Here we are, the highest Court of Appeal, the CCJ, has ruled that the valid NCM has triggered Art 106 (6), which SPECIFICALLY declares, “the President and Cabinet SHALL resign”, and he’s saying that’s not so?
The problem is, the CCJ assumes they’re dealing with men of “integrity”, rather than a wannabe tin-pot dictator.
Caricom cannot allow another 28-year dictatorship beast!
…anarchy
Granger has obviously missed some lessons he should’ve gleaned from Burnham’s (ultimately futile) attempts to build institutions to sustain his dictatorship. It’s rather ironic, since he was in the centre of Burnham’s machinations involving indoctrination programmes in the Disciplined Forces. But, then again, Hoyte did defenestrate Granger after 1985 when he (Hoyte) banished the Burnhamite faction, starting with Hamilton Green. Hoyte bypassed Granger for Joe Singh as head of the GDF – something Granger clearly hasn’t forgotten. GECOM Chair? Nyet!!
The lesson was that once you subvert institutions by bending and breaking the rules for one purpose, that institution will become dysfunctional in all other areas of its remit. The subversion metastasises like a cancer throughout the institution, which eventually becomes just a rogue shell.
This happened to the Disciplined Forces when they had to rig elections, and the Public Service when they had to racially exclude “PPP” supporters.
And will see the immigration services collapse by having them close their eyes to the Haitian scam that Felix is doing back-flips to facilitate!
…towards greater corruption
Did you see that report that the Police rank who was caught framing a Superbet location by planting ganja on the premises has been transferred?
Yep!! He was moved to the TSU!! He’ll fit right in, won’t he??
