By GHK Lall- Guyanese are watching another key element of the PPP Govt’s push for complete control in this country. In this democracy of sorts, the government’s actions indicate a habit is forming, one that reveals the sinister underside of what is the worst form of government, except for all others which have been tried. In recent times, when a judicial decision is rendered, and the PPP leadership disagrees, their rage erupts publicly, and hatchets are raised against those judges who dare to act independently, make calls as they see them, as fit the circumstances.
Sounds like John Hess’s type of democracy. That is, where ruling politicians are so sure of themselves, believe they are in such command, that they issue guarantees of judicial outcomes. Alarming, to put matters mildly. If he were a man of different essences, my first stop would have been at the doorstep of Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC. Since he isn’t, here I am.
When judicial decisions are favorable to the PPP Govt’s visions, and its interests, that gang of outstanding Guyanese are happier than an alligator with a sheep safely housed between its jaws. There is the opposite reaction, however, when anticipated judicial rulings do not go the way of the PPP, and shatter on the rocks. For sure, reactions against judicial holdings found wanting did happen before, but those reactions, including from past PPP Govts, were more tempered, were more glazed with political leadership civility, even in the face of hard, cold. disappointments.
Leaders took those unexpected and undesired decisions like men. On the chin, and without blinking. They may have foamed at the mouth inside Freedom House and other halfway houses. But the kind of snarling, hissing, spitting reactions now public are virtually a new development in Guyana’s democratic theater, and none more than from the political executive wing. The concern is that in the political executive wing of Guyana’s democratic theater, the lead actors are not acting at all. They are as real as a stroke, and with strokes of their own to deliver.
Damn that decision. Down with that judge. There was a case involving Exxon, highlighting protection for Guyana. Within minutes of that decision, there was a former president of Guyana, the foremost PPP leader, taking to the podium to denounce the decision in terms and attitudes that reeked of anger and the intemperate. It is accepted that there may be objections to decisions handed down from the bench. But there are ways to do so, with the dignity and majesty of the judiciary respected, kept intact. Why slash the judiciary’s face?
As said earlier, if AG Nandlall was made of different stuff, he would be the citizen leading the way with his own powerful stance, and not a nonentity, such as me. As Guyanese have come to learn to their regret, what beats in the breast of their heroes is not the heart of a lion, but a hollow brick that crumbles under the soft power of a stiff breath. I must check to ascertain the remote judicial outpost to which Justice Sandil Kissoon has been banished.
Now, it is damn the decision of Justice Gino Persaud in the matter of taxes on a Lamborghini that was the apple of the eye with more than one Mohamed. So much so that that immaculate incarnation of Italian inventiveness was wrapped in tax proof armor by the few who can come up with such a grand design, then give it a test drive, and pull it off. For clarity, they are not GRA Customs Officers, not GRA chiefs. When there is something as big as a Lamborghini, one has to think high for the tax stunts that were set in motion.
After all, the tax on a Lamborghini is not VAT on a light bulb, or duty on a liter of Grey Goose. Justice Persaud is now made into Facebook mincemeat, thanks to a kick in his judicial derriere from the political throne. Such is the state of judicial independence on this side of the hemisphere. This is the democracy and judiciary in which John Hess was so confident. Justice Gino Persaud had better develop a liking for the air in Berbice, for that is where the PPP Govt dispatches those who incur its wrath.
This kind of mangling of the judiciary is public. Away from public view, the PPP Govt spends much time and energy on judge shopping, so as to secure (guarantee) desired judicial decisions. Currently, it is PPP Govt judge shopping; later it could be PPP jury shopping and tampering. Such are the fast-growing vines of PPP leadership ambitions for total control of Guyana.
