Dear Editor,
The present Coalition Government is in the news again where unethical and vulgar repetitions were used by one of its members. In this instance, lewd and vulgar outbursts were again uttered by a minister of Government. It seems that this coalition Government has come to notoriety with these public displays of vulgarity, and the occurrences are all too often and familiar when frustration has reached saturation point.
The minister in question was being asked a simple question, to which he showed gross contempt and disrespect for the media worker, so when he was further prodded for a sensible answer, he arrogantly responded with the now infamous “haul your ass” response. This is low, undignified, street corner behaviour for a minister of Government. If he had nothing noteworthy to say, he could have simply ignored the question; but responding in the way he did truly reveals the mettle of the man.
In retrospect, Ramjattan apologised for his action, but he has to accept the fact that the evil deed has been done, and there is no mitigation for his actions. The point is: this minister is frustrated because his ministry is in a quandary as to what is the best strategy that can be utilized to combat the multitude of issues, such as suicide, rape, joblessness, armed robberies and murder that have so engulfed his ministry. So the poor guy is in dire straits. These and the ever superabundance of scandals that have rocked his ministry weighs heavily on him, so, he did the thing, which is so characteristic of this administration; and that is, to lash out in contemptuous fury, “Haul your ass!”
But lest we be too judgmental and hard on Ramjattan, we just have to step backwards a few months ago, when the present attorney general was caught in a similar situation. At that instance, he was cross-examining a witness on the stand, and in similar fashion, when he could not get his way, he also lashed out in threatening disgust at the judge. Not being able to elicit the desired response from a witness brought out the baseness in his thinking. What is of grave significance here is the fact that not only did he make a threat on the judge, but he vehemently refused to apologize. Interesting!
Finally, one of the hallmarks of this administration is its members’ penchant for expletives and violent outbursts whenever they are cornered. They do so at will, however and whenever they see fit, no matter how stupid and dangerous it may be. There are no boundaries for their lawlessness, there is just that total disregard for law and order, or civilized behaviour.
Guyana can be considered a forward thinking, educated and talented society, and as such, I do not see why we should be burdened with such decadence.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
