tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38152536259678981972024-03-05T09:00:20.719-08:00Ways of Looking and Feeling: the GuyaneseNews and information on the worldwide community of Guyanese;
a nation becoming a world player in the 21st century global villageUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815253625967898197.post-6253197610388406432012-01-14T21:50:00.000-08:002012-01-14T21:50:54.025-08:00President peeved at new Parliament<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>by Shaun Michael Samaroo</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>New Guyanese President Donald Ramotar sounded alarm bells after<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>nation's 10th Parliament created history with<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>first Parliamentary Speaker elected from Opposition benches.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/?attachment_id=285849" rel="attachment wp-att-285849" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-285849" height="200" src="http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/450px-Donald_Ramotar-225x300.png" title="Donald Ramotar" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">President Ramotar</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>While citizens welcome<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>election<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>leader<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>third force Party,<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Alliance For Change, Raphael Trotman, as<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>new Speaker,<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>Executive President expressed horror that<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> Guyana </span>had shunned a Speaker from</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Government benches.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>“This gross violation<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>an established convention is not a healthy development in this new dispensation,”</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>President told reporters at a media briefing after Trotman's election.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>President Ramotar deplored<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>lack<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>what he called</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>“Commonwealth precedent” in<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>country, whereby<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>ruling Party holds<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>speakership.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Opposition Members<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>Parliament say</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>y plan to use<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>ir one-seat majority in<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>National Assembly to curb alleged widespread State corruption, reign in Government abuse<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>State media, and demand strict accountability<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>State funds from bureaucrats.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span>Speaker determines Parliamentary procedures, and holds overriding powers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Across<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>country, and throughout<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>global Guyanese community, citizens welcomed<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>new dynamics in Parliament, despite<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Presidential tantrum.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Tweeting, Arnold @aplus21 said: “Good luck to Raphael Trotman and all<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>members<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>10th Parliament. Make it count!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Citizens hope to see<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>new Parliamentary dynamic deliver tangible results, functioning as a democratic institution that grants<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">people </span>power to play</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>ir role in governance, along with<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>elected Government.<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> The </span>“make it count!” advice refers to<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>lack<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>teeth in</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>previous nine Parliaments, in<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>face<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>an Executive President constitutionally immune from Parliamentary procedures.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/?attachment_id=285848" rel="attachment wp-att-285848" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-285848" height="300" src="http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Raphael-Trotman-300x300.jpg" title="Raphael Trotman" width="300" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Raphael Trotman</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span>local News Site, Demerara Waves (demerarawaves.com) generated heated debate from citizens when it reported<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>story<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>President's displeasure.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>In<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Comments
section, poster Kris said: “An interesting development but an even more
interesting pronouncement. I trust that we will now have<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>parliament we all longed for. Let progress begin!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Demerara Waves reported<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>President saying he would “closely monitor”<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Parliament. To which mohamed29 replied: “Ramotar what are you going to monitor? It is all about not having you and<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>PPP way because when Ramkarran (ex-Speaker) was<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>re he sided with only<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Jagdeo (ex-President) and<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>PPP. … So I think you ramotar can go and burn cane like you used to do in<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>seventies.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span>negotiations between<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Alliance For Change (AFC) and<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>main
Opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had generated
nationwide acrimony and strife as each party rejected<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>o<span id="dtx-highlighting-item">the</span>r's candidate.<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> The</span>y agreed at<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>last minute on Trotman after President Ramotar surprised<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span><span>m with a snap convening<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>House.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span>fight over<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Speaker had rankled and disillusioned citizens.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>And<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>y vented with passion, as this comment from poster Mo<span id="dtx-highlighting-item">the</span>r Sally on<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>above Demerara Waves report sums up<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>feeling: “<span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">people </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">of </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">Guyana </span><span>have<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> spoken </span>and unlike</span></span></span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>peasants and mud rats<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>PPP - Raphael Trotman is not only a distinguished lawyer and son<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span> this soil but also comes from a very respected and reputable family<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span> high standing in</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>annals<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>Commonwealth jurisprudence.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>What credentials does Ramotar really bring to<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>table so to speak o<span id="dtx-highlighting-item">the</span><span>r than having been an underling<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>late
communist bogeyman - Cheddi Jagan. (Ex-President) Jagdeo - Baby
Hitler - claimed that Ramotar was a brilliant economist which we all
know is a farce as he (Ramotar) is an idealogue at best.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Like<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>rest<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>nation, we hope to<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Almighty that Raphael Trotman, Deborah Backer, Ramjattan, Nagamootoo and Granger (opposition members) will find<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>necessary courage and conviction in immediately going after those that stole, plundered and raped<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>treasury<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">Guyana </span>in recent times.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">People </span>are looking on and have</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>highest hopes for this parliament so if<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span><span>y think that any<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>m are going to go into parliament, get comfortable and live high on<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>hog<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>y
had be better be prepared to face massive social agitation and
protests. Please note that it will not and cannot be ‘business as
usual' because<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>likes<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span></span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span> Youth Coalition for Transformation and<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> GUYANA </span>UNITED
are not prepared to accept any more foolishness from anyone or from
any side be it PNC, APNU, AFC, PPP, Catholic Archdiocese,</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>CIOG,<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Maha Sabha,<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> Guyana </span>Hindu Dharmic Sabha,</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Bahais,<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Hare Krishna Movement or even<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>Moonies to boot.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>It is time to rescue this nation from <span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>treacherous hands<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>demented characters such as</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>PPP. It is time to say enough..is enough and it is time to put<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span><span>m all on trial for grand larceny for a start including<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>course seizing all</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>ir assets and dealing with<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the</span>ir families condignly as well.NO ONE IS ABOVE<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> THE </span><span> LAW AND WE MUST TAKE BACK<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> GUYANA </span>BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span>parliamentary drama could play out into<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>President calling a snap election in hopes<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>regaining a majority for</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>ruling Party, as a bitter feud<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> has </span>already started to brew between Opposition Leader, Brigadier David Granger and</span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>verbally pugilistic President, over<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>upcoming national Budget.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span id="dtx-highlighting-item">The </span><span>November 28, 2011 elections saw bitter ethnic divisions and fears<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of </span>unrest.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Efforts to work for conciliatory cooperation among<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>three Parliamentary parties broke down after<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>elections, with each blaming<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span>o<span id="dtx-highlighting-item">the</span>r in distrust, and<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> the </span><span>ruling<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> People</span>'s Progressive Party refusing to share power.</span></span></span></div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please feel free to share this blog, or the information posted here.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815253625967898197.post-85095469855505504862012-01-10T20:25:00.000-08:002012-01-11T18:20:38.265-08:00World stage feels jaw-dropping Guyanese impact<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtuTL432Pwu6Mp5Apy4RVpO1HVgy3gl7Fripf-gmgECt7aSSBCd4Y1ufa1OhJDN8L9B89rSifWOTIKewhE6uGcihVl0y_7rxmWIIktmN469CPoEtguuB3QiDOSxp1TWcwqSotSNRKK28/s1600/SNcologo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtuTL432Pwu6Mp5Apy4RVpO1HVgy3gl7Fripf-gmgECt7aSSBCd4Y1ufa1OhJDN8L9B89rSifWOTIKewhE6uGcihVl0y_7rxmWIIktmN469CPoEtguuB3QiDOSxp1TWcwqSotSNRKK28/s200/SNcologo.jpg" width="193" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">by Shaun Michael Samaroo</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">When we look across this 21st century global landscape, we see Guyanese play amazing roles in societies spanning the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Asia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yet, the local leaders in the homeland fail to grasp the enormity of the responsibility for building a global nation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The image of the Guyanese, of what it means to be of this quite astonishing nation, takes a global battering. The State refuses to see the need for an emergency Global Image Strategy. The State refuses to develop its international consulates and embassies to paint the Guyanese nation for what it is, a people of warmth, friendliness and peaceful embrace of diverse cultures. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNp3MzG4gBL4JHHh4qdcp2fIRjOLK5dNOaIlZe7VBtuPB1YX-dd2Cm24di6s-sdq1NNFCMrzi8gvcTA2LnHXoLZKXy_q1hvZRYAeVCFV0-oRHddZRGen5tUKtzWowTbdemTMaHxDpihyw/s1600/guyana-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNp3MzG4gBL4JHHh4qdcp2fIRjOLK5dNOaIlZe7VBtuPB1YX-dd2Cm24di6s-sdq1NNFCMrzi8gvcTA2LnHXoLZKXy_q1hvZRYAeVCFV0-oRHddZRGen5tUKtzWowTbdemTMaHxDpihyw/s320/guyana-map.gif" width="319" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Guyanese nation lacks the image of a people contributing in awesome ways to this 21st century global village. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Local news depress Guyanese everywhere. But international news paint a particularly ragged, poor, immoral image of the nation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">First we see the Ed Ahmad Real Estate fraud allegations that dog New York's American-Guyanese community with stigmas of high-level corruption reaching to the highest echelon of the US Congress. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The New York Times reported this week in a blaring headline that:</span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/nyregion/edul-ahmad-accused-of-defrauding-guyanese-immigrants.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ed%20ahmad&st=cse" target="_blank"> Queens Broker Is Accused of Bringing Immigrants’ Ruin.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The story won front page headline in the most credible and respected local daily, the Stabroek News:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/stories/01/10/scores-of-guyanese-facing-ruin-after-ed-ahmad-brokered-loans-%E2%80%93-nyt-2/" target="_blank">Scores of Guyanese facing ruin after Ed Ahmad-brokered loans – NYT.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Other media carried the story in glaring headlines, including the local online web portal, <a href="http://www.demerarawaves.com/index.php/201201093077/Latest/ed-ahmad-is-accused-of-bringing-immigrants-ruin.html" target="_blank">Demerara Waves</a>. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The story got such wide publicity that it drowned out other stories of Guyanese running afoul of good global citizenship. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In Canada, for example, the Canadian Border Services Agency reported authorities had issued a wanted bulletin for a Canadian-Guyanese wanted for rape and violent assault. He was, the cops said, "armed and dangerous". They plan to deport him to Guyana, but he's in hiding.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The State-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper gloated this news item on its front page this week: <a href="http://guyanachronicleonline.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37630:canadian-law-authorities-seek-guyanese-sex-offender-vibert-henry-aka-tiger&catid=2:news&Itemid=3" target="_blank">Canadian law authorities seek Guyanese sex<span id="dtx-highlighting-item"> of</span>fender Vibert Henry, aka ‘Tiger’.</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Strange that the Chronicle remained mum and in loud silence concerning the Ahmad story, as US authorities mentioned Ahmad's close business links with ex-President Bharrat Jagdeo. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This linkage cements further widespread suspicion at home and abroad that the Guyana Government and State institutions indulge in gross corruption. The current government's two-decade rule includes street talk of electoral irregularities to stay in power to protect its powerful shady, underhand friends.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">To top off a week of global Guyanese jaw-dropping impact on the global village in the area of questionable public conduct, cops in Antigua slapped a multimillion US dollar fraud allegation of suspicious transactions on Sir Ron Sanders, a popular local columnist with ties to the Government.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Then, the nation watched as Saunders' lawyer, a Guyanese of high legal rank in Antigua, got into a fiery furnace for conflict of interest allegations regarding the Saunders case. The story also got plastered for citizens all across the Caribbean, and at home, with citizens wondering what hell had descended on their nation.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Stabroek News carried the story, under the headline:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/stories/01/10/lawyers-slam-antigua-cops-for-naming-sir-ronald-sanders-%E2%80%98person-of-interest%E2%80%99/" target="_blank">Lawyers slam Antigua cops for naming Sir Ronald Sanders ‘person of interest’. </a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The story made mammoth headlines in several other media, not to mention receiving hundreds of online comments.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">To compound the battering the Guyanese image took this past week, the nation got into a massive fight over choosing a Speaker for parliament, as backroom deals between the opposition parties got nastier and nastier, before a deal was trashed out late Tuesday, January 10th. The story got big play in the Guyana Times, a government mouthpiece, in a provocative headline,</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/2012/01/10/new-gyrations/" target="_blank">New Gyrations.</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The nation started 2012 with a shaky street-protest, nasty acrimony and strife over the Speaker chair, and international coverage of badly-behaving Guyanese, from petty criminality to high level corporate and political illegalities.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And, believe it or not, this is just a sampling of the stories that show how mean and nasty and bad Guyanese behave. We have, for example, left out of here the allegations of rape against the Guyana Police Commissioner, who is on leave as a squad of Jamaican cops probe the woman's charge against him. The story got serious play at this blog:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://saveguyana.wordpress.com/category/guyana-police-force/henry-greene/" target="_blank">Guyana Commisioner of Police Henry Greene should be interdicted at least – AFC.</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">With several State Ministers and other senior functionaries allegedly banned from the US, and with serious talk of the country being a narcotic haven - including such allegations from a Police senior rank - Steve Merai who runs the Berbice division, making such remarks on a Surinamese radio station - the nation seems bent on destroying its image, and its chances of becoming an emerging power alongside Brazil, its giant neighbor.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Guyanese tend to do well as a migrant nation. Living all over the Caribbean, North America and in England, the nation's sons and daughters make excellent global citizens.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But no one would notice given the recent headlines making Guyanese infamous around the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Guyanese see their leaders behave with alacrity for illegal gains, and they duly imitate, at the expense of the nation's image.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One hopes the national Government would wake up from its slumber to lead the nation as a global citizenry. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">email: beingshaun@gmail.com</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <a href="http://thequalpedlife.com/">thequalpedlife.com</a></span></span></div>
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please feel free to share this blog, or the information posted here.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3815253625967898197.post-47545773391149112862012-01-05T16:55:00.000-08:002012-01-11T14:43:19.624-08:00Our body politic rots at the soul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">by <b>Shaun Michael Samaroo | </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Thursday, January 5, 2012</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtuTL432Pwu6Mp5Apy4RVpO1HVgy3gl7Fripf-gmgECt7aSSBCd4Y1ufa1OhJDN8L9B89rSifWOTIKewhE6uGcihVl0y_7rxmWIIktmN469CPoEtguuB3QiDOSxp1TWcwqSotSNRKK28/s1600/SNcologo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtuTL432Pwu6Mp5Apy4RVpO1HVgy3gl7Fripf-gmgECt7aSSBCd4Y1ufa1OhJDN8L9B89rSifWOTIKewhE6uGcihVl0y_7rxmWIIktmN469CPoEtguuB3QiDOSxp1TWcwqSotSNRKK28/s200/SNcologo.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">We
start the year 2012 with the hung Parliament hanging over our heads,
as the political parties bicker and quarrel in acrimony and strife over
the Speaker’s chair.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Guyanese all over the world – for we are
now a global nation spread out across this 21st century global village –
watch their homeland in sad frustration that our leaders cannot
reconcile their diverse desires for seats of power.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Our nation
seems plunged into a leadership crisis, a quagmire where leaders of
strength of character, selfless sacrifice and visionary ideal may have
gone missing.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Maybe it’s the brain drain effect, as official
reports say close to 90 percent of skilled Guyanese continue to migrate.
Those who take on the mantle of leadership take on a burden that may
be too weighty.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Whatever the cause, the Guyanese nation stands
poorer for the Parliamentary morass that faces citizens this brand new
year. How inspired could citizens be to design their future?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Across
the social landscape we want to see leaders stand up to make an
inspiring difference. Our nation has come a long way since Independence,
and as our neighbour Brazil, and even our Caribbean friends, advance
their societies, we must delve deep into our soul to bring the Guyanese
nation to world class standard.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Guyanese body politic is
sick, ailing with an alarming lack of sound diagnosis. Yet, few
introspect for us to come up with workable solutions.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">What’s to be done?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We
have to know who we are as a people – our strengths and our
weaknesses. We need introspection and analysis of the body politic, a
probing to find where and why the sickness rots the soul.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Our political leaders face two exceptional challenges that tend to affect the rest of the society.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">First,
these leaders bring their character flaws, their inner weaknesses and
strengths, to the public domain. And the society suffers if the flaws
outweigh the strengths.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shakespeare dealt with this brilliantly in
his political play, ‘Coriolanus’. The play explores the character of
the fascinating Roman politician Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare
had read of Coriolanus in a historical biographic account written by the
Roman writer Plutarch.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shakespeare’s amazing insight shows us
that the body politic becomes sick and rotten if the persons forming the
head – the leaders of the State, or the Parliament – lack the strength
of character to nurture a healthy democracy.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Coriolanus, despite
his absolute brilliance as a military general, lacked the humility,
and hugged too much pride, to bow to the wishes of the people, whom he
scorned as mere plebeians. Coriolanus felt he was above the crowd, and
failed as a political leader.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Yet, Coriolanus had no idea he
harboured such fatal inner flaws. He thought he was the best leader for
his society. Shakespeare, in analyzing his character from Plutarch’s
record, saw otherwise.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shakespeare showed the character of the man
through the language he spoke. Coriolanus used lots of plosive sounds,
harsh words, and metaphors that mirror those harsh, plosive words.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">If
we look at the language of our politicians today, we would see words
that lack the spirit of reconciliation, healing, forgiveness and
reaching out in good faith. Their words show that our body politic lacks
the spirit of cooperation and trust.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Secondly, we get a profound
understanding of why we face such a quagmire in the first week of 2012
through the insight of the French thinker, Rene Girard, himself a
Shakespeare scholar.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Girard found through studying great literature and history that in any group or society, a “satan phenomenon” rears its head.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We
would do well as a society to be aware of these insights, if we want
to build a society that plays a dynamic role in the global village.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Girard
found that in any group, or society of people, the tendency to
scapegoat shows up. He calls this scapegoating effect the “satan
phenomenon”.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We see the three political parties vie for power in the Parliament in Georgetown.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">These
groups, these political parties – if they are to construct a new
culture and a new spirit in our 50-year-old body politic – must watch
out for those in their midst who would resort to scapegoating others.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We
are struggling to free ourselves from decades of ethnic political
insecurities and distrust. And so it’s easy to find a few within a group
who would harbour these insecurities and influence the rest of the
group to act out the distrust through scapegoating someone outside the
circle.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Scapegoating, Girard asserts, breeds a “satan phenomenon” because it destroys rather than builds.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">These
political parties have the best interest of the nation at heart. So
why do we see the destruction of that spirit of consensus-building,
reconciliation, cooperation, forgiveness, trust and reaching out to each
other in good faith?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The reason may be that within these groups
certain persons of particular influence cause the spirit of hardness of
heart, of rigidness, of destructive social behaviour to rear its ugly
head. The society suffers.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The acrimony and strife over the
Speaker’s chair reveals volumes about the character of our current crop
of leaders, despite their good intentions.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The verbal wars also
show that the political parties may not be healthy organisms; harbouring
influential voices inside that tear down instead of build up.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As
we look to build a Guyanese nation over the next 12 months, one based
on the noble ideals of reconciliation, trust and brotherly kindness,
those who take on the weighty responsibility of leading us must
introspect and openly deal with their character flaws, and the groups
to which they belong must purge and cleanse themselves of divisive
personalities.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As a nation we have so much going for us. We could contribute so much to each other and to this global village.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Yet, our leaders bicker and quarrel over the Speaker’s chair in the House of the National Assembly.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Author’s web: </i><a href="http://thequalpedlife.com/"><b><i>thequalpedlife.com</i></b></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>email: </i><b><i>beingshaun@gmail.com</i></b></span></div>
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