Dear Editor,
Since the passage of the No-Confidence Vote in Parliament on December 21, 2018, there have been many persons calling for elections to be held in 90 days. The Guyana Bar Association is among this lot.
Slight attention is being given to allegations that the defining vote may have been procured by a bribe. Even if a discerning mind wanted to dismiss the allegations as conjecture and propaganda, the surrounding facts demand otherwise.
Just a few days before his tipping vote, Charrandas Persaud during the 2019 budget debate, was extolling the accomplishments of his colleagues and the coalition government. He simultaneously condemned the vileness and incompetence of the previous PPP/C administration.
He also during this period sold his car and wrote a farewell letter to his son. Mr. Persaud also allegedly turned over his law practice to another lawyer.
After the vote, he was seen leaving Parliament with a leading member of the opposition and who had exulted in delight by pumping his right fist after Charrandas said “yes, yes, yes….” to the Clerk’s call for his vote on the No-Confidence Motion.
Mr. Persaud then went to Ogle Airport where he boarded a LIAT flight to Barbados. One wonders how many of the grieving sugar workers, whose condition so pained him, could have availed themselves of an overseas trip soon after leaving the rigours of an ordinary day. Much more, to leave Guyana under a cloud of suspicion about conduct that might have serious legal ramifications.
His convenient use of privilege runs counter to his claimed identification with the many workers and their families who were allegedly victimized by the members of APNU+ AFC coalition government, of which he was a recent part.
Once in Canada, he made a video in which he asks scornfully “even if I was paid was it wrong to support the no-confidence vote… “ Looking at one of the several facts outlined may lead to the conclusion that Persaud ‘s vote was an ordinary and regular one.
But when the facts are examined in their totality, you have to conclude that his vote warrants a searching and forensic second look. The far reaching effects of his conduct on the fate of a country and a region further justifies an intensive evaluation of his action.
Many are saying that the government should accept the outcome of the No- Confidence vote. All that matters to them is the outcome. The process underlying the outcome is meaningless. There was a vote in the National Assembly counted and tabulated by the Clerk. All consideration of this matter must end there even if the result topples the duly elected government.
The government is, however, duty bound to uphold the law. It must, therefore, ensure that the result is bottomed on a strict adherence to the applicable rules and procedures. If there is credible evidence of chicanery or wrongdoing attending Persaud’ s vote, it must investigate. And it must do so, thoroughly and efficiently, and bring this information to the appropriate authorities.
We are neither members of the PNCR, AFC, PPP/C or the WPA as we seek to take the right course of action. We are all Guyanese who must be beholden to the principles of fairness and justice as we aspire to build a stable democracy.
Our partisan affiliations, racial biases and religious preference should not contaminate our collective effort to protect the Constitution of Guyana.
In the end, the country would be better positioned to serve the diverse needs and expectations of its people.
Yours faithfully,
Derrick Arjune
