Dear Editor,
In less than a week after a controversial petition surfaced with the signature of a top environmental aide to President Barack Obama we have seen a resignation. Mr Van Jones had signed a petition that suggested the former Bush administration was involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
There was not much clamour or protest for Mr Jones’s resignation and his move was self motivated so as to not “allow the controversy to detract from President Obama’s developmental agenda,” especially the current contentious debate on health care.
In Guyana after the testimony and depositions in a US court of law that claimed the Minister of Health arranged for the purchase of a sophisticated ‘spy’ laptop that subsequently it was alleged was used to intercept the mobile phones of the Leader of the Opposition and various senior officials, among others, the citizens of Guyana have not seen a single resignation or acknowledgement of culpability by any government official.
Evidence in the US court also indicated a relationship between the government and a drug kingpin in Guyana with that drug kingpin being trained to use the laptop as disclosed by the proprietor of company that sold the equipment.
The drug kingpin had taken out a full page ad in the Guyana dailies to profess his cooperation with the government in fighting violent crime.
As the joint opposition prepares a dossier of criminal acts committed against citizens as a result of extra-judicial killings and torture by the army and police the government chides their efforts rather than extending an olive branch to work in concert with them to ensure citizens’ security.
After weeks of street protests by the Peoples’ National Congress (PNC) for the resignation of the Minister of Health, the Government of Guyana is dilly-dallying on the subject as if it is of no consequence.
Further, the image of the government was tarnished when the drug kingpin pleaded guilty to being involved in the drug trade.
This is a classic case of comparative politics between the United States and Guyana, one being a beacon of democracy and the other being hailed as a democracy. In Guyana despite the above, the Minister of Health is still in office while the government behaves as if it is business as usual with no apparent concern to reassure citizens in relation to their security and to salvage its credibility and image.
In the US we have seen a resignation with no protracted debate and protest, with the President not being preoccupied with saving his government’s image amidst ensuring the national security of citizens with health care reform.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address
provided)
