GUYANA THE CASE FOR 34

Lawyers Rex McCay and Stanley Moore are virtual legends in Guyana’s halls of justice, so their case on behalf of Client Compton Reid –at least the part that Challenges Charrandass’ Citizenship- invoked relief for many who see the return of the PPP to government as the continuation of 23 years of lawlessness and abject racism against Afro Guyanese mostly; even as they are disappointed in the Coalition’s failure to accomplish key issues, mainly Constitution Reform, during their near four years of Government.

Now this is where it gets curious.

These men are qualified lawyers, not pretending to be of the profession on Face Book or any other medium.

We’re going to assume, therefore, on the side of their celebrated professionalism, that they have researched the validity of filing the case and have proceeded on that and not on the musings of Hired Criers, living vicariously through stations of life that are stratospherically beyond them.

As people devoid of any legal training but imbued with our fair share of common sense, we understand the Article 155 of our Constitution, written in our official language, to say, specifically, that one cannot be a citizen of another country and be a member of Guyana’s National Assembly.

But it is the Hired Criers’ version of the of this Article’s interpretation which is making the rounds on Social Media that seems to even challenge the need for the case to go to court – it being so simple, suggesting a sure victory and causing some premature euphoria.

Per these legal eagles, Jagdeo has acknowledged that a dozen MP’s – we don’t when he did and who comprise the Dirty Dozen – are in violation of this article of the Constitution.

So- pay careful attention now– the No Confidence Motion could not have gotten the mandated number of Yes votes from the majority of all of the members in the National assembly because there were 12 rogues in the gallery.

Now it’s their underlying mechanics that bring pause…

Charandass’ breach of the law is equivalent to that of the other 11, so in the face of all that illegality why not apply some law, subtract the illegal 12 votes from the assembly, then out of the remaining 53 see how many are in favor of the Coalition.

So out goes Charrandass’s Yes vote, along with the other 11 because they are ALL illegal MP’s. And, magically, the vote fails and the motion does not carry because there are not enough YES votes from the majority.

Maybe a tadaaah…is appropriate here but we’re duly cautious, especially since we don’t know from which aisle to subtract what MP…nor are we this mathematically dysfunctional.

The use of an illegal means to achieve a legal end is fascism in any form.

The fact that it could be promoted as an argument to uphold a Constitutional breach – which has been grandfathered into good behavior because the lawlessness has never been fixed by any of the Governments in power- confirms that Government is acutely aware of the limited knowledge of the electorate it administers and is very prepared to take advantage of that and of them.

It also demonstrates why Guyana remains a socially challenged, politically stagnant country because every succeeding Government does the hand -over –take – over of the lawlessness that starts in the Halls of Legislature.

It may explain why disciplining Simona Broomes – who so far has scored a hat-trick in desecrating Parliament – is such a heavy lift that it is yet to be attempted…

And it confirms that Governing in Guyana has always been for the politicians …never for the citizens.

Decades of legal law breaking now prove this.

So here we are with reality staring us in the face; a No Confidence Motion in a Government forged by Coalition, with a slender one vote margin and an MP, whose record of recklessness and revolving door membership in his Party, were not checked in his removal from his appointment by the senior AFC member of the Coalition, or the demand for his removal by the larger arm of the Coalition…APNU.

And why fix it when, in the end, all the politicians want is comfort for themselves and their Parties and an extended stay in government to practice an ideology that remains a freakin moving target.

Who cares about the electorate? They’re going to vote anyway, line up under their tribal tents, wearing their colors and waving their partisan symbols in solidarity with an organized crew of people who have convinced them that they are in office to fight for their cause.

Nothing has changed since the 1960’s…same tactics, racial division, fearmongering, a culture of suspicion …

That whole Land of Six Peoples and One People, One Nation and One Destiny thing looks better in its calligraphy on paper.

It is frustrating…indeed.

Those of us who felt that we were on that side of history, that would have seen a genuine attempt to govern this nation and begin a trajectory towards nation building are disappointed but not so much that we can’t call it out and condemn the half- stepping of these folks, who are so consumed by posturing and appending their titles to correspondence that they forgot why they were in political office.

Ironically, it’s a self-serving politician who has brought everybody back to the drawing board and this time with more covers pulled back.

An emboldened Jagdeo has, since, declared that an overturn of Charrandass’ vote would mean an overturn of all of his votes as an MP.

Again, I confess I am devoid of any legal knowledge but still do have my fair share of common sense.

The matter before the court would be the illegality of Charrandass’ No Confidence Vote, based on his citizenship status. As a non-lawyer and confessedly dunce on legal matters, I can’t see the Judge looking at what is not before the court and therefore, going back to overturn all the votes Charrandass ever made as an MP.

From what I read, nothing pre- December 21^st 2018 is before the court. So that can’t be litigated.

And with all of the critters now crawling out of the woodwork as dual citizens, reversing all of their votes would nullify the existence of a Parliament, no?

But we’re in Guyana where the Constitution, the document that is intended to protect the citizens in every facet of their lives, is selectively flouted with a wink and a nod and an understanding chuckle by those who claim to govern.

This situation has merely reminded us of that Pandora’s Box of political wrongdoing that the citizenry must open one day and soon.

In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened her box, she let out all the evils except one: Hope. Hope was considered to be dangerous; its bedfellow can be Delusion.

Maybe Guyana’s early politicians were on first name basis with Pandora because hopelessness and delusion have dominated the landscape for as many decades as most can recall. And though, in the end, Pandora did open her box and release Hope, because she realized that without it humanity was filled with Despair, it never quite overtook the Delusion and Despair that blankets the sociopolitical landscape of Guyana, still.

You know, we’re not allowed to offer candid opinion on Guyana lest we offend those who see politics as a binary choice….Pro Government or Anti Government.

In their general stenosis, being Anti Government is living damnation and I been have given a free seat on the bus to that place.

I expect to remain the Bull’s Eye on every dart board in every recreation room that many of these political folks chill in and commiserate over their haplessness, as they bumble forward and tar and feather those who refuse to pretend that they are engaged in positive productivity.

So let me take this opportunity to offer a stiff one-finger salute to those who see patriotism through partisan publications like New Nation and Mirror and the Websites and FaceBook Hatcheries for partisan apologists and objective apostates.

And I’ll recommit to speaking up and out in defense of Guyana…land of my birth.

For I still long to walk where I used to run.