Dear Editor,
I cannot foresee that verification of the staff composition at Gecom should be either a time-consuming or an intricate undertaking. A forensic audit it is not. This matter, now that it has been ventilated in very rancorous fashion, must be settled and rapidly. It must not be allowed to fester. It does not-and should not-rise to the level of the statement of the polls controversies from the last national election.
Further, whichever political side is far from the truth, should have the decency to apologize to the nation just as publicly as it was tabled. Some issues should not be played with in such reckless manner. The ethnic composition of the Gecom staff is one such issue. Great care has to be exhibited by the leading political parties not to use Gecom for narrow, mischievous purposes. It is too sensitive to be toyed with by panderers and mongers of the worst sort playing upon old fears and insecurities.
I would like to think, maybe naively, that at this stage of our political process, some minute traces of maturity and responsibility could still be found. And that some things are simply off limits. As a quick aside, I wonder if either number is way off, and one has to be given that they are so far apart, why would such a blatant falsehood be put in the public domain in the first place, and then defended immovably? It is certain to be tracked and exposed; it does not make sense. Yes, I am aware that this is the illogic of realpolitik the Guyanese way, but it still brings cringing. I suppose that I am still learning about here and what makes things and people tick. After all, shouting fire still retains the electricity to galvanize furiously.
Whatever the number, it cannot be left hanging; it must be confirmed and shared with the public very early.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
