Defiance against judicial decision

THIS recent pronouncement by the Leader of the Opposition, “If they don’t hear, they will feel”, is, to all intents and purposes, an undisguised threat directed at the staff of both the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA). They describe it as the latest defiance by this Opposition leader against the judicial decision that ruled his Opposition-led motion to cut Budget 2012 as unconstitutional.But it again mirrors two stark contradictions of the mental facet of a Guyanese whose cumulative career and background, which encapsulates service in the military to the level of army commander, security advisor and specialist, publisher and academic, consciously ought to debar him from such language. It is fair to conclude that it is a betrayal of first his military training, with its very strict adherence to the dogma of discipline; and, as a sequel, gross disrespect for the law.

In so many columns following the Honourable Chief Justice’s ruling, despite some dissenting opinions, the common advice has been that the court’s ruling must be respected until whatever further action the Opposition may wish to pursue concerning a possible appeal. Such is indeed fair, and in keeping with time-honoured principles.

Granger, from the onset, by his many statements, signalled that he was not going to respect, much less honour, the judicial decision. Thus this threat is not a surprise.
Surely, Granger ought to be reminded of the rules which he would have obeyed while a serving junior officer, and which he expected others to similarly follow when he rose to commander status. He must think carefully of his actions in threatening staff of both state media houses. Is this what young people who earn an honest living from their dedicated toil expect from someone who had promised so much while on the campaign hustings?

excerpts from Guyanachronicle