Dear Editor,
I see everyone, including the newspapers are shrill in their criticism of President Jagdeo. I do hope the time comes when cooler heads will prevail and see that there is need for a solid, effective decisive change in our criminal justice system; change that will bring about lasting peace.
The old people say: “When you hand in tiger mouth, you must withdraw it slowly.” This is what the PPP and President Jagdeo have been doing for the past 15 years. Some-times they have been withdrawing so slowly that they end up sleeping. And this is why people are angry.
But remember it takes two to tango. On the other hand, the stalwarts who have institutionalized themselves in the disciplined forces have no alternatives. This is the only life they know. I’m convinced that there are many professional minded people still in our forces, but there are many unprofessional ones that need to go. The distrust that was initially created by the British and yes our own forefathers has manifested itself in our security situation today.
For this reason I am calling on President Jagdeo to seek help from the United Nations, as Guatemala has done, to totally revamp our criminal justice system. This idea is not an unattainable one. And it does not mean that we are giving up our sovereignty. It also does not mean that the government has lost control. It genuinely means that our President has taken the high road and is doing what is best for the long term viability of our country. I also call on all the opposition parties to sign on to this. See how successful we were when we approached the ICJ on the Suriname issue? We should not forget that it was President Jadgeo who initiated this. It’s now time to initiate another aspect of our security
