Mrs. Backer’s comments were not irresponsible

Dear Editor,
The move by the People’s Progressive Party’s Members of Parliament to discipline People’s National Congress Reform Member of Parliament, Deborah Backer, is a low class political stunt aimed to mislead the general public, and to divert attention from issues that really matter to the Guyanese people.

In the news item published in the Stabroek News, dated October 10, 2009, it was reported that Backer was reported to Parliament’s Privileges Committee for comments viewed as unfortunate by members of the government side of the house. According to the report Backer is reported to have made certain comments about the Disciplined Forces which included the remark that the army was going overseas to torture people.

What is most unfortunate is that the Speaker of the House, Mr. Ramkarran has indicated that the PPP/C, in their complaint, has made out a prima facie case against Backer. I must admit that I have tremendous respect for the Speaker of the National Assembly; however, within recent times I had reason to question his stance and impartiality on some issues, now, including this development.

I am indeed amazed that anything can come of this complaint. If Backer’s comments can be considered so harmful and offensive to the nation then, almost every MP might be guilty of making this kind of “unfortunate comment”.

Quite frankly I believe Backer is being singled out for “political reprisal” because of her recent letter in the press which skillfully counteracted Minister Manickchand’s comments and called for her to apologize to Members of Parliament. This is the kind of tit-for-tat politics the PPP/C engages in, the thinking is that we “got to get back at Backer”, no consideration is given to the fact that Backer’s response to Manickchand serves an educative value, as it gave specific details of certain parliamentary procedures.

The government is clearly attempting to win an emotional and psychological battle to, as they see it, gain cheap political mileage. I say this because of the following reasons;

1. They know that Backer’s comments are reflective of what might be deemed as basic heckling in the parliament. They also know that such comments are not extraneous to what they might deem usual parliamentary heckling. In fact I was present in parliament many times when certain statements were made by members of the government that might be no different from what the Honourable Backer might have said.

The Speaker might refer to the Hansard for specific and pointed examples.

2. The attempt might be to make Backer a scapegoat, in order to divert attention from the real issues. In fact what should have been a hot topic debated in the parliament, on Thursday, is the letter purported to have been written by Minister Leslie Ramsammy ordering the purchase of the notorious spy equipment (Roger Khan’s laptop). In the letter inferences could be drawn which suggest that members of the disciplined forces might not be smart enough to do intelligence gathering, thus the need for the equipment. I believe that this is a very damaging statement which can undermine the functioning of the disciplined forces and can be music to the ears of the criminals. But of course this letter is not purported to have been written by a member of the opposition, so it will not even be entertained in the National Assembly nor see the Committee of Privileges. In fact a motion brought by the Leader of the Opposition to deal with the entire Ramsammy/Roger Khan episode could not reach the order paper. I believe that the government’s Members of Parliament should have acted with similar alacrity to report Minister Rohee to the relevant committee when he, in June of last year, in an aggressive fashion called on the Speaker to settle scores with him outside the parliament. I wonder why the Speaker did not move to discipline the Minister, M.P. then.

3. The members of the government benches know fully well that the comments made by Backer were not serious and not intended to cause the panic they are intimating, so to make such an issue of it is very suspicious.

I believe that the opposition members should now take time to peruse the Hansard and submit those “unfortunate comments” by members of the government side to the speaker, in order that those people are disciplined. As the saying goes; “wah good fuh de goose good fuh de gander”.

4. This action seems like another attempt to instill fear in the nation, moving to the highest level of decision making. M.Ps must stay focussed and continue to speak out about the abuses of this government.

I believe in the principle of individual responsibility and respect the legal tenet that every right, including the right to free speech, has an equal and corresponding responsibility, I do not believe that Mrs. Backer’s comments were irresponsible, given the context referred to earlier. However, one might argue that her choice of words might not have been the best, but normal parliamentary heckling and jargon, in keeping with what obtains in the local National Assembly.

Yours faithfully,
Lurlene Nestor