Dear Editor,
Of course, people are free to vote as they please. And a person’s voting preference is a personal choice, as impregnable a right as freedom of speech or religion. But when someone publicly announces the political party or presidential candidate he or she supports or rejects, that person invites public scrutiny of their views. More so, if we the public suspect that the open touting of one’s voting preference is meant to sway others.
In that context, I have in mind the letter by Christopher Ram (in SN February 23rd, titled ‘Why I cannot support David Granger’) as well as the numerous assaults on the coalition government by Freddie Kissoon. It cannot be by chance that the anti-coalition rhetoric of these gentlemen coincided with that point in time when they personally felt they were rejected or ignored by the government. Immediately after that instant, their politics became a personal vendetta, an act of vengeance no less. With Ram, that moment dawned when President Granger deemed him not ‘fit and proper’ to be chairman of GECOM. For Kissoon, that instant came when he suspected that the government most likely believed that placing him anywhere near his beloved UG would be an act of destruction.
Since then, it has been obvious how personal bitterness has driven and poisoned the comments of these gentlemen. In reading their emotional criticisms, one constantly asks, would they have been pouting like this if the coalition government had granted them their sought-after personal recognition and accolade?
Yours faithfully,
Sherwood Lowe
