Rule of Lawlessness

Recent events in Guyana have made a political party there, The Working People's Alliance (WPA) coin the phrase "the rule of lawnessness". This incident point to why some governments start out with great intentions but when situations get in the way what can happen. Already the current regime in Guyana has been shown that they are in charge and can call all the shots. When the PNC, the main opposition party there refused to enter parliament, it was greeted with disdain but essentially the issue was there. We had a government that had carte blanche authority to do whatever it wanted and it was up to their discretion to make changes to whatever they wanted to do. If they come up with a bill today, there is nothing that can stop it from becoming law other than their own resolve. When one looks at Guyana's political history, this type of government is all that it has ever had. The results for the country has been essentially completely destructive, so much so that even today, the embassies of the world are full of applications from people in this very small country on the north coast of the South American continent. To the world, such countries are basically dictatorships and one of the features of this type of government is the penchant for its members to be above the law.

The recent incident with the Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall points out to where this rule of law can be a problem. According to accounts, the minister had an argument with a woman he's involved with and after her nephew intervened in the defense of his aunt, the minister hit the young man with his gun giving him a deep gash on his head. He then got into his vehicle, proceeding to hit the young man slightly, got out of the vehicle and fired shots in the air. What happened next is very indicative of what's happening in Guyana today. The police arrived on the scene and promptly arrested the young man. The minister went to the police station and gave a statement after which the youth was released. Subsequently, the young man was "compensated" for his ordeal by Lall. What was amazing is the fact that this was supported by none other than the PPP's General Secretary, Roger Luncheon who claimed that the matter was "settled". He was eventually even championed by the President himself who said that nothing would be done and that the matter was being investigated.

These events point blantantly to how economics and power play out in Guyana. If you are rich and powerful, you are above the law as you can always buy yourself out. The young man was encouraged by his aunt to accept the "compensation" as it was in her best interest that the matter remained quiet. Evidently, her acquaintance, the minister provided her with economic assistance and for her well being it made sense that nothing happened to him. The police did not press charges, the director of public prosecutions is yet to make a decision as to how to proceed. Meanwhile the minister continues to serve as though nothing happened.

This dual standard of society does nothing but reduce the general population to a state of mind where one continues to live in fear of being the next victim of the powerful. If the criminals are the lawmakers then what is the law? If the individuals elected to make and execute the law are themselves law breakers, then what confidence can the popluation have of there existing a government of fairness whose interest is theirs? Not only is there fear of being the victim but a lack of confidence that the law is on your side. The young man being the only one arrested with his head bloodied tells of how one expects to be treated based on who does what to whom. Apparently the criminality of the incident is transferred from the perpetrator to the victim! What kind of society we're thinking of fostering if this continues.

At the time of this writing, the issue seems to have died down as was expected. The PPP administration has claimed that they will look into the issue but was quite clear that nothing would be done to reprimand the minister until the issue is fully investigated. In a decent society, to show transparency one would have expected at least some action by the minister either to probably step aside until the investigation concludes. But we are not dealing with that and instead have an arrogant administration in place. No one has to wonder if this arrogance has already permeated the society. Its there already and will continue in this vein. Meanwhile all the fishiness of cover-ups, pay-offs and other instruments of corruption become the actual norm in the country, all as Guyana continues its path down the road of the Rule of Lawlessness.

May God help us.

Iain