November 1 2019
Dear Editor,
Society has a responsibility to seriously review the statements made by Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo and consider the damage they do to the fabric of this nation. The media will be among those held accountable for being the facilitator of these carefully orchestrated efforts to undermine law, order and stability.
If Justice Claudette Singh SC vitiated the entire 1997 elections and one of the factors was that the use of an identification card as a pre-condition to cast a ballot contravened Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution, why would she as Chair of GECOM preside over a process and implement the very act she ruled as a sitting judge was unconstitutional? This defies logic.
Who are the people that the media is facilitating Mr. Jadgeo to treat with such contempt for their intelligence. It is not a case that he does not know what he is doing but evidently one where he is hoping to kerfuffle the society, creating confusion, increasing tension and further division.
Is sheer rickaticks with this man since the no-confidence vote. He seems bent on not wanting society to proceed in a lawful and orderly manner or protect the integrity of institutions and allow processes to take their natural course.
We must ask to what end such conduct is being facilitated. Worthy of note, even as he does this he is not doing what he as Leader of the Opposition should be doing to give effect to the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with regard to the responsibility of the National Assembly.
The CCJ Judgment of 12th July, that the Opposition Leader selectively wants respected, at Item 7 expressly states: “Article 106 of the Constitution invests in the President and the National Assembly (and implicitly in GECOM), responsibilities that impact on the precise timing of the elections which must be held.” When will he be held accountable to this?
He wants to tell the President, Government, Justice Singh and GECOM what to do while he fails to do what he is duty bound to do by law and court ruling. This raises legitimate concern. It may be a deliberate act to avoid returning to Parliament to ensure the constitutionality of the pending election as in the event the PPP loses the results can be challenged in the court on the ground that it was not constitutionally called.
This man is demonstrating a penchant to create havoc among the Guyanese communities and must be held accountable. These weekly media brawls under the guise of press conferences are evidently not intended to bring sobriety, maintain law and order, elevate public discourse, seek good governance or for the public good. They serve as a platform to malign, impugn and propagate public mischief, doing more harm than good to society.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
