President Irfaan Ali should immediately fire Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall and simultaneously the Integrity Commission should launch an investigation into the breaches of code of conduct by the minister, former auditor general Anand Goolsarran has said.
His call came even as former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran called for clarity on Dharamlall’s future in government, raising questions on what if he were charged or remained on administrative leave. Ramkarran, in his Sunday Stabroek column ‘Conversation Tree’ said, “the nature of the allegations and political considerations demanded an immediate response.”
Calls for Dharamlall to face the consequences of his actions have been mounting since the allegations were made public. Last Monday, he was arrested and placed on $1 million bail. The case file has since been sent to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
Goolsarran in his Sunday Stabroek ‘Accountability Watch’ column referenced the 2014 decision of the then prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar to dispense with the services of 12 of her ministers for relatively minor offences during her four-year tenure in office.
President Ali, he said, needs to take a leaf from her book.
Goolsarran also questioned whether the Integrity Commission would investigate the apparent breaches in the Code of Conduct as contained in the Schedule II of the Act? “Or will it await the receipt of a complaint from a member of the public? By Section 27 (2), a person in public life who is in breach of any of the provisions of the Code is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $25,000 and to imprisonment for a period not less than six months to a year,” he said.
According to him, there must be no compromise on integrity, no allowance for arrogance, no room for violation of mutual respect, and no sacrifice of values on the altar of political expediency.
He asked, given the seriousness of the allegations, “how does the minister expect to face the staff of his ministry as well as individuals and organisations with whom he is required to interface in the performance of his duties? How will he be able to sit in the National Assembly – the highest forum of the land – as an elected representative of the people and face fellow MPs?
“What contribution can the minister now make to the public good and the public interest?
“In other jurisdictions, the minister would have been shown the door pronto. In Guyana, however, party politics and party loyalty tend to take precedence over good governance, the rule of law, morality, ethics, justice and fair play. Whichever party is in power, the tendency has been to ‘circle the wagons’. As a senior official from one political divide once said, ‘the party’s interest comes first’.”
The President, Goolsarran pointed out, has been severely criticized for not taking a firmer stand on one of the most serious matters affecting his administration. “As soon as the allegations surfaced, he should have acted by suspending the minister from performing his duties both as a minister and an MP, rather than waiting on the minister to request leave. Suffice it to state that it is the President who appoints ministers. They serve at his pleasure, and any allegation of misconduct or criminal behaviour should be dealt with swiftly by way of dismissal and investigation by the relevant authorities,” he opined.
Additionally, Goolsarran highlighted that this was not the first time that the minister was embroiled in conduct unbecoming of his status as a public official.
Some of the allegations against him were detailed in a Letter to the Editor by Dr Jerry Jailall, published last Wednesday. He said recalled that a motion was submitted to the National Assembly by MP Cathy Hughes in February 2022 to suspend the minister for his remark, “Is a dildo you want, that is what you looking for,” directed at an opposition MP.
He went on to lament that it took eight months for Hughes to be informed that the Speaker had disallowed the motion, after she had followed up in a letter to the Speaker. Through the Clerk of the Assembly, the Speaker had indicated that he based his decision on the ground that the minister had apologized and that he (the Speaker) was satisfied that the following statement made in the Assembly by the minister constituted an apology, and that he considered it to be adequate.
“If I had said anything that was misconstrued, it was not my intention to make those statements to that effect, and, there were statements that were also unparliamentary, on my part, during the course of the interrogations, then I would like to withdraw them as well,” Dharamlall had said.
However, the letter writer indicated that it must be noted that the minister used the words “if” and “misconstrued” and therefore he did not in effect acknowledge the inappropriateness of his ‘dildo’ comment. In the circumstances, his statement could hardly be considered an apology, genuinely and sincerely made, the letter said
“One also recalls the minister calling for the ‘defrocking’ of two female judges from their judicial positions after their rulings did not find favour with his party. There was no evidence of any sanctions taken against the minister for an attack of the judiciary. He is being investigated by the police, and if he is charged, the irony of it all is that the minister will have to face the same judiciary about which he made disparaging remarks,” the letter underscored.
Rock and a hard place
Ramkarran pointed out Ali’s treatment of the matter was reminiscent of the ‘agreement’ of former High Commission-er Charrandass Persaud to be relocated from his post in India after using unacceptable language to an Indian citizen.
“What if the then High Commissioner did not agree to relocate, or Minister Dharamlall did not request to go on administrative leave? What would the President have done in the face of such allegations?” he asked.
The statement by the President on the matter suggested that he acceded to the request of Dharamlall to go on administrative leave, he added. He noted that governments in Guyana were averse to taking action against their members when accusations of wrongdoing emerge. Among the various reasons that exist for this, he noted, were personal friendship, political loyalty, saving face, sustaining political support and others.
“In larger countries with developed standards, much less serious accusations result in resignations. An allegation of rape would certainly have resulted in a resignation,” the former speaker pointed out.
“But if Minister Dharamlall remains on administrative leave, what happens if he is charged and is committed by way of preliminary inquiry to trial at the High Court before a judge and jury? Such a trial would take a few years to be brought up for hearing, having regard to the backlog of cases. Would Minister Dharamlall be retained as a minister of the government on administrative leave for years until the trial, or until there are elections, if these come first? Would he campaign in the elections? If the PPP returns to office, would he be reappointed and once again placed on administrative leave? And what would the PPP say to the Amerindian electorate, from which it obtains a critical portion of its support, in its election campaign?”
As he explored scenarios of what could be possible outcomes, Ramkarran said that “these several conundrums place the government between a rock and a hard place.
“It is unlikely that these matters have engaged the President. Most likely, consideration would not have moved beyond the tense awaiting of the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions on what advice to give to the police. If the advice is that no offence is disclosed, that would be the end of the matter legally, but would it be the end politically? Would Minister Dharamlall be returning to his post?”
