Dear Editor,
The PPP-dominated University Council cancelled Freddie Kissoon’s contract with UG. I hope this chilling and reprehensible episode opens the eyes of the public at large and those who were prancing around with blind and misplaced optimism that this current PPP regime was anything different from the last incarnation administered by Bharrat Jagdeo. Mr Jagdeo’s shadow seemingly continues to wield great influence within the PPP. This current PPP administration is increasingly appearing to be a lesson in puppetry. Questions must abound about whether there is a power by proxy situation unfolding in the PPP.
This decision to terminate the contract of a man who has taught for 26 years at a university that witnesses the exodus of 90% of its graduates from Guyana is more than valid confirmation that something is seriously wrong with those holding power in this country. This is proof positive that profound vindictiveness, pettiness and outlandishness still inhabit the minds of those who claim to serve the people of this nation. How do you fire a man who makes himself available to disseminate knowledge in a country that has become a cesspool of growing ignorance in the past 20 years? To attempt this with a minority government is evidence of the kind of abuse of power the PPP believes it is entitled to. After Mr Kissoon had raised recent failed attempts to remove him from UG, the fact that this administration operating with a minority in Parliament still persevered in its perversity signals that there are grave forces dominating the PPP and these forces somehow believe that it is the business of bullyism as usual.
Mr Kissoon is right that his profile as a fierce anti-government critic and his links to high-profile opposition figures might suggest that President Ramotar would have been consulted before the PPP used its majority in the University Council to render this decision. Mr Kissoon stated we are experiencing the continuation of the Jagdeo elected dictatorship. All the signs including this one point to such a continuation. Mr Ramotar has altered nothing of value. The same old Jagdeo ministerial hacks have continued their grip on power. All of Mr Jagdeo’s advisors are advising Mr Ramotar. Mr Jagdeo is supposed to be an advisor to President Ramotar. This would provide Mr Jagdeo with an opportunity to influence the presidency. Freddie Kissoon is a critic. It is his job, life and his chosen role. The public expects him to criticize, condemn and to expose. I, along with some Guyanese, do not agree with him at times but we agree that he has a right to express himself without being targeted. To deprive a man of his livelihood in this fashion is cowardly.
This latest act of skulduggery is what is now a definitive assault on the independent media in Guyana reminiscent of the banalities of Bharrat Jagdeo. In less than a week, the two independent muckraking newspapers in this country (Kaieteur News and Stabroek News) were denied radio licences while the owner of the Guyana Times was granted one. If this deviancy did not shock you, this attack on the nation’s foremost critic by depriving him of his livelihood should. These combined actions signal a change in direction of the Ramotar presidency. Despite enclosing himself with former Jagdeoites to the chagrin of the voting public, President Ramotar has largely avoided the abrasive decisions that offend public decency and acceptable notions of decorum. Mr Ramotar played it safe. This latest action makes us wonder who is calling the shots now as it signals a dramatic change of direction towards backstabbing. It would seem that vindictiveness has returned to the PPP. Did it ever leave?
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell