Apr 01, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon 0 Comments

The government passes a motion in parliament which carries weight, though the resolution isn’t made into legislation. The motion was introduced by the governing party at the insistence of the leader of that party. It wants children under 12 to be disallowed for purchasing alcohol at any place in the country.
A member of the governing party goes to the court to argue that parliament does not have the authority to pass such a motion. Let us for argument sake say that the member is entitled to go to court. What becomes bizarre is that the very party that introduced the motion sends lawyers to argue the member’s case.
We are talking huge asininities here. If the member is within his right to challenge his own government, why must that government nurture his litigation when the end result will be a dismantling of the very motion?
It must be seen to every citizen on Planet Earth that has followed the election impasse that the recount is not wanted by certain powerful actors. This is an argument against commonsense.
If APNU+AFC won the election, it would have achieved one month in office with a full government if it had allowed a recount to take place days after the Mingo fiasco. Surely, one has to be a hopeless fool to claim an election victory, and has not lifted a finger to ensure a transparent process is shown to the world.
I spoke to a high-level operative of APNU+AFC and I told him that with each day, the clumsiness of his entity enrages the international onlookers, because his entity keeps doing nonsense that enrages these people, as these people are seeing absurdities that they have never seen before in their international careers.
How can you side with a citizen who goes to the court to stop the recount when you won the election, your government’s installation is being held up, and you are providing expensive legal counsel for that citizen? Why does APNU+AFC think people are so stupid to accept its asininities?
It is the continuation of these asininities that has led the Justice For All Party, the WPA and ACDA to go in the direction of decency and dignity. All three organizations have said that an immediate dissolution of the election stalemate will happen if there is a recount and an assurance from all participants that they will accept the final verdict. Of the three, two political parties comprise the government. The third is a longstanding ally of the PNC.
Has the Full Court finally brought an end to the insanity of an election tampering never before seen in Guyana? That is not an easy question to answer. The world thought it would have ended when the Chief Justice ordered Region 4 returning officer, Mr. Mingo, to continue the tabulation.
The Chief Justice created enormous latitude for Mingo to conduct his operation without pressure from anyone. She said he could use his own documents and not those imposed on him by others. But he must use valid documents that are verifiable, and this must be done in a transparent manner. Mingo did not adhere to the Chief Justice’s edict, thus a contempt of court writ is filed.
Are we near an end to the saga with the Full Court ruling? I doubt it. GECOM can do a recount. But here is where the conspirators of GECOM, in collusion with the corridors of power, can prolong the nightmare of Guyana. Interestingly, the Full Court did not grant a stay of its decision to cancel Justice Holder’s junction and refused the government side leave to appeal.
So the government side cannot appeal the Full Court’s decision, but what it can do is to appeal the Full Court’s decision not to allow it to appeal.
I hope you follow. It should not be confusing, but let me repeat the description. The government side has not been allowed to appeal the decision of the Full Court yesterday. That very decision not to grant it the privilege to appeal can be appealed.
Now that process should not hold up the recounting, but who is to stop GECOM from saying, well look, the government side has asked a higher court to remove the Full Court’s decision not to allow an appeal, so we will have to wait for a settlement of that matter before we start the recount.
But GECOM could also go ahead with the recount and conduct it in the most disgraceful way, rigging the process once again. Don’t bank on it – the conspirators are not defeated as yet. Stay away from public places while the virus remains in Guyana.