…PNC big ones
Your Eyewitness isn’t the least surprised that the powers-that-be decided no charges would be laid against Simona Broomes for her actions at the Amazonia Mall in Providence. After all, as she pointed out early in her public life – when she insisted on ignoring the Police and leading a “trafficking in persons” (TIP) raid in Bartica that rounded up 29 foreign women, whom she shipped to Georgetown.
Rather than being reprimanded for breaking the law and entering private property without a warrant, the Minister was allowed to get away with her high-handedness!
But the behaviour at Amazonia crossed a line that was forbidden by the LAW OF THE LAND: she filed a “false report” with the Police that didn’t only waste the Police’s time (which is one charge right there, since she knew her statement was false) but her false report “perverted the course of justice” – a much more serious charge. What are the elements of this charge?
Now, dear reader, Broomes satisfied every element of those crimes – “filing a false report” to the Police and “perversion of the course of justice”. She fully knew she was lying in her teeth against those two poor security guards…and she certainly had the opportunity to retract!! Her asking reporters “Wha’ alyu talking ‘bout?” reinforced her unrepentant behaviour over her crime. In terms of reputation, apart from Broomes’s early damage, her partisans have further damaged one of the guard’s reputation by making all sorts of allegations against him.
So we return to the question as to why Broomes is allowed to get away with her bullyism. Well, in Guyana, Burnham’s original PNC made its reputation on “might is right” through the bullyism of folks like Hamilton Green.
…James Patterson
Because of the existential danger of Executives in democratic governments subverting constitutionally built-in mechanisms that prevent dictatorial rule, in addition to the ‘separation of powers” doctrine, several institutions of the state are given constitutional protection against Executive interference. But this has never stopped the Executive from trying to work around such controls!
One such institution is GECOM. For obvious reasons, since we suffered for 28 years from rigged elections caused by an Executive-pliant body, a consensual mechanism between the President and the Opposition Leader was introduced via Art 161 (2) to prevent Executive unilateralism. We don’t have to rehearse the stipulations; do we, dear reader?
Yet CJ (ag) George ruled that President Granger could reject the list of names provided by the Opposition Leader and appoint someone originating from the judiciary as Chairman of GECOM!! In interpreting Constitutional Articles, the primary question has to be: “What was the PURPOSE of the stipulations?” In this case, it was clearly to prevent Executive unilateralism!!
Your Eyewitness is pleased this anomaly’s being reviewed promptly!!