Dear Editor,
PPP General Secretary, Mr Donald Ramotar, in his letter, ‘A Goebbels culture held aloft by the opposition,’ (KN, 18.5.08), would have many of us believe that, compared with the AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan and others who have accused the Jagdeo regime of abusing the so-called ‘Burnham constitution,’ he is telling the truth that President Bharrat Jagdeo basically enjoys similar protections to those of certain other democracies. Well, truth here is relative and not absolute.
The first democracy he cited was Britain. He compared the British head of state with the Guyana head of state and said the British head of state, who is also the ruling monarch, is exempted from the jurisdiction of the criminal courts and is personally immune from civil lawsuits. What he did not clarify was that the British ruling monarch is more a ceremonial office-holder than a political office-holder.
Unlike the Queen of England, who cannot be voted in or out of her position and does not interfere in the daily running of government, the British head of government, who is also the prime minister, runs the government, is answerable to the electorate and is subjected to the laws of the land. Big difference!
