Guyana 2014: The edge of darkness
By Paul Sanders
Whoa, what a year it was - 2014. A cruel, cruel year for the Guyana.
You thought that it will never ever end, huh?
Oh yeah. For the People's Progressive Party and its government, we stood witness at the magnificence of mediocrity. Jaw-dropped in total disbelief, Guyanese saw the glamorization of incompetence and mishaps executed by professional nitwits. More shockingly incredulous is the fact that the ruling PPP did not give a sheet about who was watching. To hell with the public opinion, and screw you .... international observers.
That's just how it went down in 2014. The regime's expression of gangsta politics; its latest reformulation and its dark underbelly of tribalism went through the iniquitous ritual of baptism in a year of public outrage and absolute shamelessness.
The rise of hooliganism as a state policy emerged triumphantly from the corridors of the vanguard proletarian base, known as Freedom House; it casted a long, dark shadow, and like a cataract, it dimmed the light of the sun; of a nation's aspirations of a brighter dawn and a better future.
Who in their right mind would have subscribed to a luxury jet to airlift an ex-president, gl******* Bharrat Jagdeo to the USA just to take a sheet? At an estimated cost ranging between US$35,000 to US$40,000. That's just travel expenses, bro. And he wasn't going to Disney. Yup, this fella travels like a sports celebrity.
Add to the obnoxiousness of it, you gotta listen to the bullshit the ruling class went on with when asked how much of the Guyanese tax payers money Mr. Jagdeo flushed down the American sewers when he took a dump in a Miami hospital. What's up with that? Sheet happens. And by the way, what's so special about this man? Here's a clue. Already a parasite on the nation with his elaborate pension plans, you gotta admit it, this Mr. Jagdeo guy is full of it. So full of it!
But that's how it goes when the elite is intoxicated with power. Just ask Minister of Finance Ashni Singh who has successfully coined a new dimension into the term "pissing drunk." Masquerading under the influence in the aftermath of the Mash celebrations this powerful minister of government did a "hit and run," then had his sidekick do the fixing.
Well, this exemplary behavior pissed off the nation real good, but in the end, we learnt there are two sets of laws for Guyanese: one for the poor, ordinary man, and one for the filthy rich. Amen.
Take it or leave it. The PPP doesn't give a sheet about you and your decorum. Here's what I mean.
The GRA has suddenly become a Taliban organization and a state weapon against perceived opponents of the government. Say it ain't so. The emails emanating from GRA boss Khurshid Sattaur looked like a declaration of Jihad war against people who weren't friends of the ruling coterie. This one had all the markings of a malicious plot that involved ex-president Bharrat Jagdeo, the attorney general, et al.
Remember Priya? Priya Manickchand. The honorable minister of education. Yeah .... the quintessential ratchet chick. In your face. That's her right there for you at the American ambassador's residence ragging him down in the rich tradition of Jagdeo's School of Cussology. She became an instant hit in the hoodlums circle. In the ghetto environment of the PPP, this punk is considered "cool."
Many ugly adjectives were conjured to characterize her toxic manners. And they all seemed appropriate. But the appellation,"fish market lady" happened to be an affront to hard working, polite, grassroot people when you juxtapose them with a "crabdog." Sorry .... tough language. But you get it, don't ya?
And when it comes to language skills, the attorney general is a man of words. Plenty of them, for the record. Anil Nandlall, the high class of the high caste. He knows it so he wants us to know it. And he warns friends and enemies alike: to be afraid .... be very afraid!
Yeah, the warrior class has spoken. Make no mistake, this man's message to the Kaieteur News this fall was nothing short of a Hollywood script for a gangsta flick with a sound track full of vulgar rap lines. Gritty in his narrative, the attorney general inspired graphic images of inner city lifestyle and reprisal violence. Totally OD on two letters, three letters and four letters' words. Totally unbecoming.
Reprimand? Nuh. This guy is Indian royalty with a kshatriya bloodline. It means Indian Spartacus ...Indian badass. While the international community was dogging him down to resign, his collegues stood there to buttress him. Most remarkable in this travesty is the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack who later determined that there was no ground for charges against the attorney general.
This is Guyana's "Wow" moment. Case closed. Like the grand jury's refusal to place charges in the Eric Gardner case in Staten Island. Sort of.
But in Guyana, there's something very creepy here about this Shalimar Ali-Hack as it was in the drama about the charges institued against the NBS managers. That's a sad story; read it. But it smacks of a political conspiracy, religion, the law. And the DPP seemed to play along. The Ombudsman report had some damaging observations regarding her role. So why should you be surprised that she got nothing on Anil Nandlall?
But here's what Transparency International got on Guyana under the PPP regime. The global civil society organization found corruption to be the tagline for development under the PPP. To understand what that means is to understand that Guyana is the most corrupted country in the western hemisphere.
If you are a PPP propagandist, a member of the ruling cabal, a soupie who rabble rouses for a daily bread, then you can induct Transparency International as the latest enemy of the state.
Include in the sheet list: The World Health Organization. According to their report, Guyana is now the suicide capital of the world. If the PPP is concerned, its strategists should know that most suiciders are rural Indo Guyanese who happen make up their support. Every Indo Guyanese who chose suicide is a lost vote for the PPP the next election. Apaan Jhaat gets really weird here.
Here's another report by the WHO that will really piss off PPP fanatics. Earlier this month, the WHO reported that Guyana has the highest murder rate in the world. Phew! Call that human development after 22 years of "democracy," comrade. Long live the revolutionary vanguard. Cheers.
So what is the lesson here? It sounds like people who are not busy killing themselves are quite busy killing each other. Have you noticed also that the roads have become another killing field? Traffic deaths have become an epidemic. Whether you are pedestrain or passenger, danger lurks. This country has become one big jurassic park.
Of course. This year we have come to learn how Bharrat Jagdeo, during his tenure as president hatched a massive scheme to rip off tax payers of billions in the telecommunications industry. A very interesting read in the Kaieteur News investigative report, we have seen a family conglomerate rising as the leading monopolist in the media business. Thanks to Mr. Jagdeo, Guyana is now the Republic of Family and Friends.
It got from bad to worse. This fall, president Donald Ramotar took a shot at being a smartass but ended up looking like a complete moron. Why is no one surprised at all? The man made a bold, dumb move in romanticizing stupidity by proroguing parliament, and gambled on the notion that he can negotiate a deal with the opposition outside parliamentary procedures.
Like the functioning of his brain, the order of parlimentary business is still at a stand still. You don't need a second opinion on this president.
The list of madness goes on and on. The atrocities never end. But the upside of this is that it has spawned a whole new art form of satire and comic goodness, essentially caricaturizing these ditzy political players while adding fun and entertainment in coping with the stress - the craziness that is called Guyana.
This New Year's eve, President Ramotar will more than likely deliver his midnight pep talk to the nation. He might be thinking that he can command a national audience with his blank thoughts and Soviet rhetorics. Of course, a bunch of zombies, sloganeerers and retards from support groups will play cheerleaders to embolden him to extend his noise.
My advice: tell the DJ to pump the volume, drink ya rum .... and dance like a "Coolie Bai."