Long before the new presidential candidate stepped into the spotlight, and identified as a competitor, I said to others that he had better be ready. The PPP Government will throw everything on his head, work tirelessly to wrap everything around his neck. I was right. Because there he was with handcuffs wrapped around his wrists, as he was hauled to court on tax evasion charges. Due to this matter being sub judice and all that that means, I do not near to it, but focus on the politics of what is becoming an increasingly tawdry affair. As usual, Guyana’s courts get tarnished by being pushed into the vortex to make sense out of chaos. Political chaos.
I hold no court for the new political competitor, nor pronounce on the alleged tax evader’s guilt or innocence. But this country is a strange place, and the PPP Government the strangest creature of all. The defendant in a white-collar matter is paraded in public with steel bracelets. A show for the crowd, or an exhibit for the campaign trail and political commercials.
I recall that when the Democratic Party held power in the US, the moment that one Donald Trump pulled the plug and announced his candidacy for the White House, how a long line of charges was dropped on his sorry head. Now that he has the power and controls the hour, he is returning the favor tenfold. There isn’t much that I can say about politics, other than it’s part circus, a bit of a ruckus, and with an abundance of what is bogus thrown in to give everything a pious appearance.
I ponder how it is that the alleged tax evader and new political contender could have done the next to impossible. That is, evaded almost a billion dollars in taxes (allegedly) all by himself. He had to have had a helping hand here and there, most likely every step of the way. There is the suddenly conscious Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and then there are the people behind the GRA, who I believe are the real intellectual powers behind all these whole shabby dealings.
Instead of saying behind the GRA, perhaps I should be casting eyes at a different angle. Think of staring in the blazing faces of the sun gods. Documents had to be processed stealthily, with powerful orders featuring helpfully every step of the way. So, what about aiding and abetting? Consider this. It is easy to under-invoice a barrel of booze, or a basket of electronics, but a batch of high-end vehicles takes some doing. And some helping, if I may be permitted the courtesy of adding. The little people at the GRA can’t go near that, touch things of such magnitude. Such are best handled by a select few and kept under lock and key.
In terms of the last bit, I must say that the GRA did well with it. It only took the constricted span of almost five years for the newly found tax evasion explosion to blow up all across Guyana, with the new challenger the first casualty. The GRA scrutineers certainly took their time to get around to the Lamborghini and British made departments. It could be that they were all operating under some nameless duress. I would like to ask a favor, could I say politics, as in political duress, meaning influence? This issue is so sweet that it reeks. Just like overripe perfume.
Four to five years came and went, and all it took was a matter of four days for the latest political contender to be presented with a pair of bangles by the State. It’s a luscious example of Because we Care, and how much we care, from the PPP Government. When friends fall out with another, fiends take their place. Yeah, I know that it is not Lord Byron, but given how Guyana has become, it does have some elements of the American traitor, William Joyce, operating as Lord Haw-haw from Berlin during the Second World War.
I am already looking past this tax evasion and handcuff segment of the 2025 elections. I am staring at a chessboard and checking the options that the PPP Government has besides charges like these. There is the GRA in its current state, the police force as it is, and a court system that everybody is standing up and peering closely at, to determine what would come out of it. In some respects, tax evasion could be the PPP’s newest phantom force, given the mystery that surrounds these developments. The young fella has to have a hard head, a deep pocket, and a few assets of his own. I would be surprised if he didn’t. He may be preparing to demonstrate that two can play at these secret political games.
