Bharrat Jagdeo, AKA Donald Trump

Oct 24, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon 1 Comment

Here are the words of the former President, Bharrat Jagdeo: “Yesterday I explained that Kaieteur News had applied for a radio licence, but was not issued one. The role of the media has been accepted as a critical one in a democracy. However, reporters also have a responsibility to reflect issues in a truthful manner.” There are two points to note here. The first one is why Kaieteur News was refused; in what context was the refusal made?”
One has to remember if there is a dollar to share out and one person gets it and another is refused, contextually, as St. Aquinas, the great Catholic philosopher from the Middle Ages would say, there has to be a logical explanation. Faced with contextualization, Jagdeo is never going to answer. When asked why Robert Persaud in his capacity as Robert Persaud and not as a Cabinet Minister, was awarded a radio license and not the Stabroek News and Enrico Woolford, Jagdeo isn’t going to answer.
Here now is what the current Commissioner of Police (ag) had to say in subtle reference to Jagdeo when he was President; “I was not the one who granted firearm licences to a known drug trafficker who skipped the United States, came to this country and set up himself; and he has dozens of firearm licences.”
Jagdeo isn’t going to answer that if the question is put to him. The reference here is to a drug baron that earned the confidence of the Government when Jagdeo was President.
This is the nature of Jagdeo. For this reason each time he opens his mouth and speaks of democracy and as he did in the quote above, he should be confronted with his morbid double standards that characterised his depraved twelve year old presidency. The second point is about the role of the media. It is best to re-quote Jagdeo: “The media has been accepted as a critical one in a democracy.”  Who has accepted this critical function of the media? Certainly not Jagdeo.
This man demanded the suspension of the state-owned radio station reporter, Debra Kissoon (no relation) when he was Finance Minister because she persisted with a question on money laundering that Jagdeo didn’t like (see my column of July 20, 2008). This same Jagdeo banned Capitol News reporter, Gordon Moseley from his press conference. It is interesting to Google this incident and see why Moseley was banned. It was for a simple verbal disagreement with Jagdeo on Jagdeo’s attitude to the media. This same Jagdeo issued the draconian edict that state advertisements must be withdrawn from the Stabroek News.  When Mrs. Janet Jagan took umbrage to that decision he referred to her as “an ordinary citizen.”
My deeply held belief was that this decision played a part in the increasing heart ailment of the Stabroek editor, David De Caires. I knew that De Caires had sought the intervention of Mrs. Jagan. Mr. De Caires could not believe that the PPP Government would have ever done such a grave injustice to the Stabroek News, especially in the light that the Stabroek News, which as born courtesy of President, Desmond Hoyte, played no small part in getting the PPP elected over the PNC in the 1992 elections.
Knowing that Rickey Singh in Barbados was a sycophant of Jagdeo and propagandised for Jagdeo weekly in the Chronicle, De Caires turned to Singh. Jagdeo arrogantly rejected Singh’s mediation offer. David De Caires never recovered from that trauma.  He died a broken man. I tenaciously cling to that opinion. The state withdrawal policy was subsequently applied to the Kaieteur News. Addressing a dinner of the Guyana Manufacturing Association during his presidency, Jagdeo urged business people to boycott the Kaieteur News. Interestingly, as recent as October 2015, speaking at a PPP meeting, Jagdeo as Opposition Leader advised his party supporters not to buy newspapers that do not support the views of the PPP.  “Dangerous” was the word the Guyana Press Association used in its press release to describe Jagdeo’s virulence.
Against this backdrop of anti-media viciousness, Jagdeo in a display of morbid hypocrisy tells us that it is acceptable that the media has a critical role to play in a democracy. Mr. Jagdeo is also known in Guyana as Donald Trump. Guyanese have transferred the facetious name, “De Donald” from Donald Ramotar and are now applying it to Jagdeo in reference to how Donald Trump behaves. You can show Trump the graphic evidence of what he said, where and how; he will deny it. Jagdeo was a depraved, abominable, immoral, undemocratic leader who abused power. If you show him the incontrovertible evidence he will deny it.

..............................................................................