Category: Editorials

The upcoming elections have uncovered an intriguing contrast in the choice of Presidential Candidates by the parliamentary parties, leading to a dangerous disinformation campaign by the Opposition. In the People’s National Congress-Reform (PNCR), their leader, who is traditionally their Presidential Candidate, was to be elected last August at Congress Place in Sophia. The Chairman of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), PNCR member Sharma Solomon described the rigging of the election. Instructed to select delegates from Linden based on specified boundaries, Solomon complied. However, as he later explained: “Subsequently and without consultation…

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Guyana continues to prove time and time again, that it has a strange political culture that is never constant but always changing given the mood and agenda of its key political actors. Whether this change is good or bad depends on the outcome of the issues that are affected by our very dynamic political culture. President Ramotar announced May 11 as the day when Guyanese would be given the opportunity to once again vote for a party of their choice after three years of political stalemate and a dysfunctional Parliament…

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The expected announcement by President Donald Ramotar on Tuesday, setting May 11 as Elections Day, would have no doubt ended weeks of speculations as to when Guyanese would go to the polls following last November’s prorogation of Parliament. Elections in Guyana are always interesting times. Apart from the lively political discourses and banter on the campaign stages – E-days in Guyana are always fraught with lurking danger. Little wonder, President Ramotar urged in his address to the nation, that the elections process be conducted in a spirit of peace and…

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The British High Commissioner to Guyana on Monday threatened to have Guyana be sanctioned by the Commonwealth if the President does not end the Prorogation Order he issued last November. This latest explicit threat followed a call a few days ago by the British Foreign Office for the prorogation to be ended “as soon as possible”. It is clear that the British are ratcheting up the pressure on the Guyana Government to end the prorogation. What is also clear is that the British are threatening to impose sanctions unilaterally by…

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The good book does say that a man is not recognised in his own country. After all, the natives remember when he used to walk barefoot among them. But when it comes to former President Bharrat Jagdeo not only does the Opposition media refuse to recognise his accomplishments but they go out of their way to do what the Americans call, “a hatchet job” on his reputation. Take the Stabroek News’ editorial of January 5, “Observers”, which purported to comment on Jagdeo being appointed Head of the Commonwealth Team of…

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At the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, the following verse is inscribed: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:/ I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Rousing sentiments indeed, and represented the renewed enthusiasm for the ideal of America being “the land of the free” after the abolition of slavery in 1865. The Statue itself was a gift from the French to the Americans just a 100…

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Now that a week has passed since the President prorogued Parliament, the major source of the  Opposition’s angst appears to be their claim that the President “didn’t play fair”. While they had to concede that the power of prorogation is a Constitutional prerogative conferred on the President, they are making all sorts of arguments as to why he ought not to have exercised it. He violated the “spirit of Parliament”. But the arguments all boil down to the issue of fairness – ultimately a moral question. But as with all…

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On Monday (November 10), for the first time since Independence, Guyana’s Parliament was “prorogued”. Since June of this year, the populace has been educated to the nuances of the Parliamentary “No-Confidence” Motion through its introduction by the AFC and supported by APNU. It is clear that Guyanese, both at home and abroad, will have to become familiar with this other, somewhat arcane, practice of Parliament, and this editorial is a preliminary to contribute to this objective. Very simply, the prorogation of a Parliament results in the termination of a session…

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The United Nations (UN) was formed as WWII drew to a close, and its declaration emphasised the concerns of the time: “We ,The Peoples Of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war…to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human persons, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small… and for these ends to practice tolerance…to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security…” The focus on preventing wars was understandable…

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With Internet Communications Technology (ICT) transforming the world as we know it, it is not surprising that the technology would be abused for purposes for which it is not intended. There will always be those who will seek to subvert mechanisms for their own gain and nefarious purposes. In the instance of intercepting communications, so as to gain an advantage in what economists call the information asymmetry, it probably began with eavesdropping at keyholes. As the technology of communication moved from the oral to the written form, “steaming open” letters…

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