Dear Editor;
‘The power behind the throne’, according to Wikipedia, is a phrase that refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of a high-ranking office, such as a head of state. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or nominal subordinate of a political leader (often called a “figurehead”) who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through possessing great influence and/or skillful manipulation.

Given that definition, history is replete with examples of persons who can best be described as the ‘power behind the throne’. In Guyana, for example, many believed that Janet Jagan was the ‘power behind the throne’ on which Cheddie Jagan sat, and that Bharrat Jagdeo was the ‘power behind the throne’ on which Donald Ramotar sat. In both instances here, ‘throne’ is the symbol of the presidency.

In the coalition government headed by President David Granger (APNU, the Cummingsburg Accord of February 2015 calls for Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to handle the day-to-day affairs of government and spearhead constitutional reforms.

Unfortunately, observers have detected, over ensuing months, that not only has this particular agreement of the Cummingsburg Accord been reneged on, but the day-to-day running of government business appears to be the forte of the Minister of State. This then gave rise to growing suspicion among some that the Minister of State is the de facto Prime Minister, while others are of the view that he is the de facto President.

Whatever the perceptions out there, the growing consensus is that the Minister of State is the ‘power behind the throne’ in the coalition government. In fact, in the early stage of the Harmon story, one letter writer, Nigel Hinds, wrote a letter (“Arguments in support of Joe Harmon,” KN, April 7,2016), in which he posited, “when we look at the structure of PNCR or APNU – it is an incontrovertible fact that aside from President David Granger, Minister Joseph Harmon is the most likely individual to lead PNCR or APNU Coalition.”
Mr. Hinds not only ignored the fact that Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge once received the second highest number of votes at a PNC Congress, but Mr. Hinds may have inadvertently betrayed behind the scenes efforts to promote the Minister of State as David Granger’s successor, while confirming aforementioned perceptions that the Minister of State is the ‘power behind the throne’.

However, when the Minister of State decided to threaten a libelsuit against Kaieteur News for allegedly publishing defamatory articles of the Minister of State regarding his highly controversial China trip and the cease and withdraw order to GRA and SOCU operatives in their bid to seize luxury vehicles from Baishanlin, it definitely elevated the Minister of State to the level of a ‘power broker’ or ‘kingmaker’ with an image to protect, because ordinary politicians would never venture a libel suit for what Kaieteur News published to-date.
What the Minister of State, along with his army of supporters, just do not get in their blocked or clogged thinking, is that this news story about the US$5M in GT&T shares, which reportedly was the primary reason the Minister of State traveled to China to resolve, continues to be part of the news cycle because the private media and several observers refuse to allow Guyana to return to the Jagdeo-Ramotar era of no accountability and no transparency.

It has been over one month since the Minister of State returned to Guyana from his China mission to resolve the balance of payment issue related to the US$5M GT&T shares, and, instead of the public knowing the status, the public has learned that the Minister of State came into possession of documents showing the money was paid, which conflicted with a different report that stated the money was waived under some convoluted arrangement.
The public also learned that the Minister of State would be presenting a report on his findings to NICIL, much like the completed audits are being turned over to state boards. In other law-abiding democracies, this GT&T shares matter and completed audits with legal recommendations would have been turned over to law enforcement agencies for investigations. In the case of both the GT&T shares and the completed audits, public funds are involved, so why is there an apparent attempt to cover-up via delaying tactics rather than recover?

As a Guyanese who spent years writing letters decrying the explosive episodes of corruption during the Jagdeo-Ramotar era, I did not think that regime change in May 2015 would have led us to this place one year later where, instead of government coming clean on issue involving public funds, it has one of its leading operatives trying to shut up, if not shut down, a private media house for trying to get at the truth about the actions of that lead operative. I have also not read anywhere that the Minister of State committed acrime.
By the way, the public refuses to buy into the Minister of State’s attempt to hide behind veterans of Guyana by demanding Kaieteur News pay the Veterans Fund GY$13M and a public apology in lieu of a libel suit.

The Minister of State is both an elected and appointed public official, and his actions were committed while being a public official, so the focus is not on his personal life, but on his public life. Is it much easier to sue for libel than to tell the nation, via whatever documents were reportedly found, that the US$5M was paid? Former President Donald Ramotar and current NICIL Chairman, Dr. Maurice Odle, have said no money was paid, and the Minister of State is said to have documents showing it was paid, so let us see the documents! How hard is that?

Emile Mervin