Dear Editor,
I wholeheartedly support any measure from any source that legitimately addresses and fights the drug scourge. Which is why I got excited when I read Minister Rohee’s statement that the government is considering  having public debate on a draft bill prohibiting persons “who are involved in the narco-trade” from participating in national and regional elections. This is a profound development. It immediately got me thinking and wondering whether the local drug cartels are seeking to adopt the model of their counterparts in Mexico and Colombia and fund their own candidates for power, and whether this prompted this proposed legislation. Or whether the drug cartels are making an aggressive push within the PPP ranks to seize power in a backroom revolution, prompting this step by the PPP to protect itself. After all, the cartel is the most powerful economic presence in the country with the muscle to get its own way when necessary. It operates in a virtual laissez-faire environment with no serious political or law enforcement action against it. It was only a matter of time before it felt it necessary to select and support its own candidates for office. So the PPP may now be trying desperately to protect its own party from the infiltration of cartel candidates. This is the same PPP government that has failed miserably to take any major decisive action against any major drug cartel or player since it came to office. This horse has already bolted the barn. The next horse on the horizon will be ridden by the first horseman of the Guyanese apocalypse belonging to the cartels. He will do exactly what his compadres have done in Mexico and Colombia and use threats, coercion and intimidation to get political support. The mere fact that the government is pushing this bill before election is evidence enough of the power of the drug cartels in Guyana and the amount of influence they could wield in the political process.

The other aspect of this proposed bill is that it is plain old disgusting political posturing and showmanship. With an election less than a year away and the PPP’s track record on drugs downright dismal, this is a bone for the old dogs sitting on the sidelines to gnaw on and celebrate. You have to admire the PPP’s gumption and cunning in holding public discussions, which affords them an opportunity to flounce and pretend action and to claim egregiously that they are committed to fighting the narco-trade and to peddle this bill as a saviour when in fact it is a hollow mockery. Again, many will swallow it hook line and sinker. Again, more bones will be tossed to the mangy dogs waiting on the scraps.

It would not matter to many that the legislation is toothless. It does not matter that incontrovertible evidence will basically require one to find the individual with cocaine in their hands selling it to someone else for that provision to apply. It does not define ‘involvement’ and how this applies to individuals. It matters not that we are still to get legislation and action to actually nab drug lords before they become political candidates. That would be a start rather than allowing drug kingpins to roam freely as captains of industry and then try to block them from gaining political office. Who is Minister Rohee trying to fool here? Drug lords will not run for office exposing themselves to intense public scrutiny. They will pick candidates to run for them. Again, this legislation is a hoax and a billowing smokescreen. A candidate funded by a drug lord who is not involved in drugs directly or indirectly is not affected by this proposed legislation. In fact, a drug cartel could approach a Minister tomorrow and offer to pay for his campaign and that Minister would be able to run for office without a problem. Further, the drug cartel could do so publicly by holding a press conference and under the legislation the Minister would still be able to run for or hold office.

Stop fooling people. Drug kingpins are hoping this proposed legislation becomes law for it changes nothing, but most importantly it will hoodwink an important sector of the electorate into believing change is coming to counter the scourge of the drug trade. The kingpins want it to vote bravely for the government so that it wins the next election, which means their trade is likely to continue unchecked for another five years.

Yours faithfully,
Michael Maxwell