Dear Editor,
The Jagdeo regime (1999 to 2011) had little regard for the law. The Phantom Squad specialised in extra judicial killings of Guyanese citizens. He spent taxpayers’ money, handed out lands like they were his own. It was a truly lawless time.
Now today we read that he had another tantrum on Saturday evening over a ruling by the Court of Appeal that did not go his way. While criticism and comments on court rulings are generally accepted when based on the merits of the case, legal minds will now consider whether Mr. Jagdeo’s attack on the ruling verges on contempt. He described the decision as a “travesty”. He also branded the three judges’ ruling as “perverse”. In other words the judges deliberately ignored the issues in the case to arrive at their decision.
This is a scandalous charge which can be viewed as an attack on the judiciary. The Leader of the Opposition is setting a disgraceful example to the people of Guyana as he undermines the rule of law.
Of course with Mr. Jagdeo this is nothing new.
His call yesterday, putting the CCJ “on notice” is just a reminder of his disregard for Guyana’s and the Caribbean’s court of last resort. In 2010 he had said there was a conflict of interest within the CCJ because the Chairman of the Trust Fund of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Dr. Rollin Bertrand, was also the Chief Executive Officer of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) which won a challenge it brought against the Guyana government over the importation of cement. This was even as his (Mr. Jagdeo’s) administration ignored the court’s ruling.
There was also a recent whisper campaign against the CCJ ahead of the ruling that barred Mr. Jagdeo from ever contesting the presidency, which centred on the racial composition of the court.
It would appear as though Mr. Jagdeo is incapable of coming to grips with the reality that he is no longer the big, bad bully of the Caribbean he used to be, but now a much diminished lame duck opposition leader.
Yours faithfully,
Imran Khan
Director of Public Information
