Yesterday’s online edition of SN contained four separate articles about oil, the most important of which were reports of speeches by the Canadian High Commissioner and the United States Ambassador. In her farewell address, Ms. Lilian Chaterjee said that Guyana lacked the labour force needed for the ‘explosive’ oil-linked growth that is coming. The US Ambassador, Ms. Sarah-Ann Lynch, speaking at the Oil and Gas Summit, said that Guyana has to move quickly to show the world and Guyanese that it is ready for the immense transition underway. The words conveyed urgency.
Continue reading “URGENT REFORMS”CURBING ELECTORAL MALPRACTICE
The PPP/C’s accepted defeat by 5,000 votes in 2015 and promptly departed from office, without a recount of votes in some challenged areas. It was generally believed that with a smooth political transition, the era of debilitating election controversies had come to an end and future results would be accepted, even if challenged in court, as is the usual practice. The events of March to August this year has proven that both rigged and disputed elections are here to stay and that if the APNU+AFC ever gets into office again, it will remain there forever, or for decades, as from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, by both hook and crook.
Continue reading “CURBING ELECTORAL MALPRACTICE”IT’S TIME FOR AN ENFORCEABLE MINISTERIAL CODE OF CONDUCT
The UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was accused of violating the Ministerial Code of Conduct by bullying staff. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Sir Alex Allan, the Government’s independent adviser on standards, to investigate the allegations. He found them to be true. The Prime Minister rejected the conclusion and no action was taken against Ms. Patel, although she issued an apology for the behavior. Sir Alex resigned.
Continue reading “IT’S TIME FOR AN ENFORCEABLE MINISTERIAL CODE OF CONDUCT”THE ARGENTINE FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM
Earlier this month it was recommended by Mr. Nigel Hughes, the lawyer representing Joel Henry, Isaiah Henry and Haresh Singh, three teenagers who were brutally murdered and two of whose bodies were found on 6 September at No. 3 Village, Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice, that an organization known as the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (Equipo Argentino de Anthropologio Forensica – EAAF), a non-profit organization, be invited to Guyana to assist in the investigation. The team would include a forensic anthropologist, two forensic pathologists and a “criminalist.” The cost would be $4 million. The Government has shown reluctance. The Guyana Human Rights Association has launched a fundraising drive. In the absence of cooperation from the Government, and presumably the Police Force, it is not known how the work of the EAAF will be facilitated.
Continue reading “THE ARGENTINE FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM”Trumpism Triumphs
Over the past weeks in the US, liberals and progressives, and some conservatives, expectantly awaited the results of the elections for the complete demolition of Trump and Trumpism by the American electorate. Instead, Trumpism has triumphed with 47-48 percent support. The frightening prospect has emerged, together with a Republican majority in the Senate, that Trumpism, now validated as a political strategy, will continue to influence the policies of the Republican Party, marked recently by obstruction to climate change measures, intensification of efforts to dismantle Obamacare and resistance to relief measures to working people, the middle class and small business.
Continue reading “Trumpism Triumphs”