…in the house?
It seems that in addition to Charrandas Persaud being a “Judas”, a “bribetaker”, a gold smuggler etc, he’s also a “usurper”. The former appellations were bestowed by the PNC/AFC combine right after the NCM vote, while the latter was uttered in the final appeal as to the validity of that vote in front of the CCJ by the Govt’s lawyer, one Courtenay, a former AG of Belize.
If the latter gentleman is representative of Belize’s legal talent, then it’s clear we don’t have to hang our heads or be sheepish about us having Basil Williams as our AG!! After being hauled over the coals by the CCJ bench the day before on the matter of Granger’s unilateral appointment of Patterson as GECOM Chair, the fella repeated his bumbling performance as he concocted theories to rival the PNC/AFC’s contention that 33 isn’t greater than 32!!!
Being a dual citizen makes Persaud a “usurper””!!
A usurper, of course, is someone who seizes or occupies a position either by force or without any legal right. The Belizean probably didn’t realise that we Guyanese know more than a thing or two about usurpers. We experienced Burnham rigging elections to be Prime Minister and then President and dictator from 1968 to 1985, and then Hoyte from 1985 to 1992!!
Now, on this dual citizen business, of course Persaud knew he was a dual citizen; but then, so did his party leaders. If he occupied his seat illegally, didn’t his party leaders conspire with him to do so?
More pertinently, if Persaud’s vote was invalid, weren’t those of the other Govt MPs — Greenidge, Roopnaraine, Gaskin, and Harmon — also invalid? And since the PPP had only 3 dual-citizen MPs to the Govt’s 5, wouldn’t they have won the NCM in that rump Parliament in any case?
The Belizean Basil-doppelganger, in his desperation to earn his mega fee, also didn’t worry that all the Government business, including its budget, would’ve been vitiated if dual citizen votes were “null and void” as he insisted!! Grilled on the issue by the CCJ, he blithely suggested that the courts could issue “temporary orders” to save budgets etc, out of “necessity”!!
Well, didn’t the lower courts validate Persaud’s vote by that same doctrine of necessity??
Courtenay also insisted that, in Guyana, MPs ALWAYS have to vote the party line because of the ‘crossing the floor’ rule; and NEVER THEIR CONSCIENCE!! Well, if that were so, what’s the purpose of Art 106 (6) when, with Govt MPs being merely rubber stamps, it could never kick- in to force the President and Cabinet to resign??
The man had the temerity to say that “debate in Cabinet” – which merely “advices” the President – suffices!!
…and charlatans
A “charlatan”, we’re told, is a person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill; a pretender, quack, mountebank, sham, fraud, fake, humbug, impostor, masquerader, hoodwinker, hoaxer, cheat, deceiver, dissembler, double-dealer, double-crosser, trickster, confidence trickster, cheater, swindler, fraudster, racketeer; rogue, villain, scoundrel; phoney, sharp, shark, con man, con artist, hustler, flimflammer, flimflam man; grifter, etc.
There are so many synonyms for the charlatan because there are so many of them in the world. Now, there’s not much wrong when you puff yourself up a tad; everybody does it, since we all think we’re better than we actually are!! But when people who’re in charge of our country — as the PNC/AFC are right now — go along with charlatans, then they guarantee disaster for our nation.
Just look at the Minister of Agriculture who was foisted on us for four years and you begin to get a glimmer of what’s at stake.
The question, of course, is why?? And the answer is: those in Government are also charlatans!!
…and handlers
Folks are wondering why Pres Granger sent 5 ministers to the CCJ hearings – Sydney Allicock, Nicolette Henry, George Norton, and newbies Tabitha Sarrabo-Halley and Haimraj Rajkumar. To keep an eye on the charlatan Basil and his doppelganger Courtenay??
Didn’t work!