Manickchand’s mannequin: Dying moments of a failed regime

Any historian would tell you that there are certain characteristics of a government facing imminent dissolution of power. One such feature is the definite loss of rationality. A beleaguered government cannot think rationally. Its leaders say and do the most irrational, illogical things that to the normal mind make no sense.
Anyone who looked at Roger Luncheon’s defence of Priya Manickchand’s fishmarket tirade against the US Ambassador would have seen a PPP Government that has lost it. Irrationality has taken over this regime. No portrayal of these dying moments could have been more graphic than the style and language of Luncheon defending Manickchand.
It was if Luncheon wanted to exceed the madness in Manickchand’s behaviour and maybe he did. Luncheon was literally gloating at the attack of Manickchand on Ambassador Brent Hardt. It had to be a mentally shattering moment for the average Indian supporter of the PPP who would give anything to go to the US.
Surely, Luncheon and Manickchand must know that cussing down the American government cannot find appreciation in Berbice and Essequibo.
I believe all PPP leaders know that this is so, but irrationality inevitably takes over a government on the downslide and its leaders become helpless to pull back from the brink. Any analyst who says that he/she didn’t expect the unbecoming outburst the type of which Manickchand displayed maybe is naÏve. The past five years we have seen endless Manickchand-like acts. We are talking here about unadulterated irrationality.
Just to mention two recent Manickchand moments. The chairman of the West Indian Cricket Board was treated in the most contemptuous manner three weeks ago. He was lied to, insulted and pushed around. Now I am not talking about the Cricket Bill itself. I am referring to the arrangement put in place for confabulations with the Chairman and how those meetings were approached.
Let me give you just two examples. An appointment could not be made for the Chairman to see President Ramotar because Mr. Ramotar was in Berbice. But the Chairman was only told this after he arrived at the Office of the President for talks. And to add insult to injury, the Chairman was later given proof by an executive of the Guyana Cricket Board that Mr. Ramotar was in Georgetown and never in Berbice.
Why would a Caribbean Government treat the Chairman of West Indian cricket like this? The answer is irrationality. It is silly for a PPP supporter to think that the Chairman did not report that mistreatment to his Caribbean colleagues.
Here is the second example. It has to be hurtful to you, your spouse and children to have valid birth certificates, but you have to go through sheer torment to apply for a new one which must not be older than six months when you apply for a passport.
It is an obnoxious and asinine requirement. But did you see how Rohee at his press conference was gloating about this imposition? He kept asserting that people will have to get the new birth certificate. And who are these people? The PPP’s supporters who have to come from Essequibo and Berbice to apply for the document that will take more than a year to acquire.
Rohee was in the same irrational mood like Luncheon. This is what happens to a faded, jaded regime that has been in power for too long and is experiencing drought in ideas and sapping mental energy. The irrationality began under the latter years of Bharrat Jagdeo, but it is taking its toll on the Ramotar cabal because of two factors. One is the minority status of the PPP Government.
There has been no power dilution out of the loss of the Parliament majority and that is clear for any schoolboy to see. The PPP exercises power without any oppostion or legal or constitutional restraint. It is the mental fatigue that comes with the bruising battles between the Executive and the Legislature that is exacting a heavy toll on the mental fiber of the PPP cabal. The Amaila Falls project was casualty of such a protracted war.
The second factor is the divisive battles that are going on inside the PPP. Luncheon’s statement that Manickchand’s speech was written by the Cabinet is utter nonsense. Manickchand was probably told in an informal way to be frank and direct. But never for a moment one should believe that Manickchand accepted to be a mannequin.
What Manickchand did was to go overboard to prove herself as a tough, no-nonsense PPP loyalist to advance her credentials in the ongoing leadership battles inside the PPP.  In the mean time, the nation should expect nuff irrationalities.