Editorial

As stated in the February 5, 2012 Sunday Stabroek editorial, after two decades in office inclusive of a major disaster seven years ago, the PPP/C government has run out of excuses where it relates to viable solutions and a comprehensive plan to confront flooding.

“As willing as my government is to exercise patience, forbearance and reasonableness in the interest of all of our people, my administration will not be held [to] ransom… [by] intractable postures,” President Ramotar told parliamentarians in his first address to the National Assembly on Friday.

As the race for the US Republican party nomination meanders between four different candidates, the use of negative campaigning has assumed new significance.

Just in case anyone believes that Caricom states are still capable of consistently clever diplomacy, then think again.

It was reported last Friday, that following one of their meetings, the government and the parliamentary opposition agreed to set up three committees that would, broadly, deal with issues affecting governance, the constitution and the economy.

It would not be odd if, in various capitals of the smaller states and economies of the world, both officials and citizens are beginning to be somewhat fearful of the continuing economic crisis among many countries in the Eurozone, and of what has appeared to be a gridlock between the centres of government and Congressional  decision-making in the United States.

About a week ago, Labour Minister Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul made an eye-catching comment in a section of the print media about what he described as “brazen disrespect for the country’s labour laws by some local and foreign companies.”

Parliament’s new configuration and the PPP/C’s loss of its accustomed majority will test all sides in and out of the House on several seminal questions.

One wonders what else there is to say about flooding in Guyana that hasn’t be said many times before.

Valentine’s Day this year will mark the twenty-third anniversary of the Iranian fatwa against the novelist Salman Rushdie.

Wednesday’s editorial, ‘Britain and Caricom,‘ raised a few questions about the coordination, coherence, efficiency and efficacy of Caricom’s collective diplomacy.

With 2012 just a month old, there have already been at least four reports of serious crimes committed against children in Guyana.

The dominating thought in the minds of those who would have heard of an imminent meeting between the foreign ministers of Caricom and their counterpart from the United Kingdom, William Hague, a little over a week and a half ago, must have been whether he would be bringing fresh, positive news about what Caricom considers the exorbitant Air Passenger Duty (APD) imposed by the British.

On December 3, 2011, Bharrat Jagdeo assumed the status of a ‘retired’ president.

Good governance thrives in an environment where there are robust checks and balances; where no branch of government exercises unrestrained and improper sway as for example the executive influencing decisions of the judiciary or creating conditions where judicial officers feel intimidated or beholden to the executive in the discharge of their functions.

On October 18 last, we carried a report about the University of Guyana Workers’ Union saying they would be taking legal action against UG “if moves by the government representatives on the University Council to terminate the contracts of a number of lecturers are successful.” 

We are, still, a young nation. We hasten towards our destiny and, like most youngsters, pay scant regard to the past.

One hopes that Prof Norman Girvan’s recent meeting, in his capacity as the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary General in the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, with President Donald Ramotar and Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, also provided the opportunity for engagement on matters relating to the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama denounced that country’s bottom heavy tax system, among other things, as well the fact that in many parts of America women still do not receive equal pay for equal work done and pledged to do all he could to change both situations.

As happens from time to time, the present American presidential election process is an unorthodox one, since barring any unpredictable occurrence, the Democratic candidate is already known.