Guyana: Clown of the week by Paul Sanders
So how do you preempt a pro democracy rally? How do you beat them to the punch?
Just ask President Donald Ramotar. He convened a press conference last weekend. To clear things up.
The wannabe King Kong says he's not a dictator; he does not have any new powers to be a dictator. Meaning he does not have the intellectual acumen like Forbes Burnham to impose, nor the ballz to be totally brutal. He wants you to believe that. I mean not the intellectual acumen part but the brutal part. Really?
Does Idi Amin sound familiar? That African buffoon of Uganda did exactly that. He proved you just don't need education and smart diplomacy to be a jackass. You just need to be a jackass. All it takes is an oligarchy of senseless, brute and maniacal colleagues as reinforcement to impose a certain kind of madness on a nation.
We know which higher education Mr. Ramotar does not possess; we also know which insitutions of learning he missed. The opposition of Guyana is not taking any chance. History shows that intellectual handicap and political power can be a dangerous thing. Combine ignorance and brute force and you have combustion. The world has witnessed this insanity too many times before. And it has always been crude, bloody and expensive.
Because dictators have a way of feeling they are too ahead of the game; too superior to the rest of their subjects. They feel compelled to force their position on a nation, believing that they are dragging them forward - to the future. For President Donald Ramotar, the consitutional clause, which he invoked in the tradition of Forbes Burnham, is a real monkey wrench; and nobody is willing give him a hall pass.
Like most kind hearted despots, the president was giving us an upgrade. But here's the conundrum. Or the joke. Whatever. The President acknowledged he could have entertained the No Confidence motion, debated it and won "hands down..... with logical and irrefutable arguments."
Seriously? Oh Lord! Did he just say that? Yes and yes and yes. Rib lickling....side splitting huh? Remember his gladiatorial challenge to the oppositon to "bring it on?" Ha ha ha. Epic bluff and fluff! This is not just borderline ridiculous but downright "laff til yuh belly bust" hilarious.
This is the president of Guyana speaking here, man.... trying to do cogent PR. Swagger. And it just seemed to be "spot on" on dottishness. So if you heard the word "stupid" in an outbreak of uncontrollable laughter, then you are not alone. Yeah, this man's got jokes.
But then the president decided to twist things further in his exposition for some more drama. He admitted he went against debate since he knew his government might have won the argument and lose the popularity. Some kinda wisecrack, huh! Two things before your laughter disrupts the peace in the neighborhood. First, who on the ruling PPP's side can defend a dictatorial passage in a constitution that they themselves once vehemently opposed? Second: the PPP is so slimy and so mendacious that they have no more popularity to lose. Just ask around.
But what popularity is President Ramotar alluding to? He claimed that "based on his discussion with stakeholders, particularly within civic society ..... they are pleased with his judgment." So who are these "stakeholders?" What an interesting category. It's worth some scrutiny.
In this definition, you'd find an assortment of murky players, ranging from a few of the trade unions and their leaderships that are closely aligned with the PPP; a handful of obsequious, brown nosed, religious clerics from the Christian, Muslim and Hindu faiths. Add to that, unctuous businessmen who have skillfully tapped into the corrupt nature of government contracts and the resultant malfeasance. Family and best friends too - they are "stakeholders."
Then, of course, elements of the underworld who have penetrated the administration with nefarious influences, and whose main interest is for the PPP regime to remain at the helm, hence the acquiescence of Guyana being a major transhipment point for drugs in South America.
These fine people think President Ramotar's prorogation of parliament -with an elected oppposition majority - is good for the country, the right thing. These folks, according to Mr. Ramotar, subscribe to his ingenuity. These are the "stakeholders" who must be propitiated as reference point of good governance. Sounds like a script from the Quack - the poll guy.
On the other side of the divide are the 99 percenters. They represent the majority who is putting up resistance to the development of a lawless state under the rein of a tyrant; they are nothing but plebians. Their destitution and misery are a testimony of the progress in economic and human development under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. But their position is wretched; they have no clout; they do not live in the glittery mansions of Pradoville; they do not drive Pradas; they do not partake in the lavish, gluttonous lifestyle of ministers of government, their families and best friends.
You know how they live - and die.
We're not done yet. So what does the president do after playing out his dick card? Now he wants to play slick. He's sending out a ransom note. And setting up a team to placate with the people he pissed off.
Where is the rationale? In his delusions. Mr. Ramotar reckons that once he defecates on the people, antagonizes them with a dictatorial platform then he is in a position to talk. He is saying, let's be friends. In sum, this man thinks he can be a hostage taker and be cool at it. No problem with that. But his sense of elucidation fails to inform him that he is intimidating the legitimate majority.
This is terrible, dumb logic. The president is obviously feeling complacent in his cocoon of ideological well wishers, propagandists at Freedom House, at Pradoville, in the company of sycophantic, moronic rubber stamps and soupies, etc; but unless he gets an eye opener that offers him a view of the widening distance between his government and the people his arrogance will continue to reinforce his delusions.
The combined opposition is in the position to give him that wake up call and recite him his political horoscope. Is President Ramotar testing the resolve of the AFC and APNU? Both parties insist that all talks will happen in parliament. Great idea. Because the ruling PPP is tricky when it comes to extra parlimentary talks. They wrote the book on treachery.
So this is President Ramotar's quagmire. If the opposition holds out, then there are only two options open to get pass the impasse. One: for Mr. Ramotar to put on his big- boy pants and reconvene parliament and look at the No Confidence motion in the eye. And, be a badass, debate the issue ....and win "hands down." Like he said. Ha!
Or as final resort he can dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
And here's the kicker. Mr. Ramotar feels strongly about his chances. He indicates that he will run again as presidential candidate. Oh pleeeeze.... can somebody tell this man to shut the front up?
