Dear Editor,
PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar said that Minister Kellawan Lall had been severely spoken to by the Central Executive of the party and was reprimanded. Was that expected to ease all of our concerns? He said that discharging a weapon in public was indiscreet on Lall’s part. Thank you for at least acknowledging that and bringing it to our attention that it was, using a very mild word, indiscreet. Nobody realized that. The entire population of Guyana thought such an action was unlawful instead of merely indiscreet (indiscreet is better suited for urinating in public).
When one hears these silly things from the tongues of people who are at the helm of our country, we get instant tummy aches. Ramotar went on to say that he did not think that the whole story had been made fully public based on what Lall had explained to the party. “Probably he needed to tell the whole story in the first place,” he was quoted as saying.
Whose fault is it that “the whole story” is not known? Wasn’t Lall supposed to make a public statement ages ago regarding his actions? What nonsense is Mr Ramotar really telling the Guyanese people? Insisting that his party has “high standards” is quite laughable, given that such a serious matter involving erratic behavior and unlawful use of a deadly weapon by one of the party’s members is being so boldly overlooked. No “high standards” there, Mr Ramotar. When people commit crimes in Guyana and elsewhere no “series of crimes” have to be committed before they are punished.
I do agree with Mr Ramotar that had it not been for Stabroek News, there would not have been much of an outcry.
The Chronicle for one would never have anything negative to say regarding your party and its actions. Thanks to Stabroek News we can have a fair idea of the major political and other problems that we are facing in our country.
I would like to take the headlines from both Stabroek News and the Chronicle of December 25 as a perfect example of the major differences between our two main presses. Both are in relation to General Secretary Donald Ramotar. Stabroek News’s headline is, ‘PPP reprimands Lall over rum shop brawl.’ The headline in the Chronicle reads ‘Ramotar signals intention to run for presidency in 2011.’ Now it is a major announcement for Mr Ramotar to make such intentions known.
Equally important for us, the people of Guyana, is to know what kind of person is making such intentions known. If it had not been for Stabroek News’s report which always balances the scales, there would not have been much insight at this moment into Mr Ramotar’s suitability for the post.
The most important thing to know about candidates for the presidency is their fairness of judgment.
I am sure that after reading what Mr Ramotar had to say regarding Mr Lall’s matter, the majority of the people of Guyana do not want him for president. How would he handle future problems within the government? Mr Ramotar’s one-sided nature displayed in the article in Stabroek News is, of course, the answer. How would he react to criticism? How would he deal with the wrongdoings of his friends and party members in the future? I definitely cannot see myself ever voting for Mr Ramotar.
I do believe that both the Stabroek and the Chronicle are equally important for the information that is given to the public. One newspaper in its hurry to flatter the ruling party inadvertently gives away vital information which when countered by the other newspapers, really does give us a basis on which to make important decisions that would ultimately affect us all.
Thank you to both Stabroek and Chronicle for your respective reports on Mr Ramotar. I do know that the facts have spoken clearly for themselves.
Yours faithfully,
Lewis Hale
