AT  THIS sad time when Guyana’s future social and economic progress is being jeopardised by a surprisingly low level of political maturity on the part of the two parliamentary opposition parties, some amusing politics about claimed “death threats” are also making media headlines.
In his broadcast to the nation on Friday evening, President Donald Ramotar has already categorised the GUY$21 Billion budget cuts as “poisonous” to the national interest.
He has also warned of the resulting negative impacts for the Guyanese nation as a whole, with our indigenous Amerindian community in particular having been dealt a severe blow, in comparison to a myopic, self-serving political “appeasement” to Linden.
Now, while the APNU/AFC opposition alliance contemplate the consequences, for themselves as well, of the political mischief committed by their reckless budget cuts,  we focus, briefly for now, on the fun politics  about “death threats” that have been popping up in media headlines, most recent being that from Christopher Ram.
A well known chartered accountant of the firm of Ram and McRae, Ram has been very much in the public view for years with his professional services and perhaps better known for his consistent opposition to the PPP/C-led governments.
So what wrong has he now done, to warrant some individual or group to want to send him, as claimed, a threat to his life? If there is such a political lunatic lurking around it is a matter for prompt police action.
Nevertheless, the cynical, if not sinister dimension of this claimed ‘death threat’ is the undisguised insinuation of a likely involvement by the governing PPP. To its credit, the PPP issued a sober media statement on Friday setting out how baseless and
insidious is such an inference.
Prior to this, there was the even more amusing claim from the now parliamentarian of the AFC, Moses Nagamootoo, once a stalwart of the PPP, that he has been informed of a “threat to his life”, as declared during the debate on the 2012 budget.
We are, of course, in no position to know why anyone, from any party, organization or community, would want to do away with ‘poor’ Moses as he seeks to make a name for himself in opposition politics.
As far as this newspaper is aware, Nagamootoo, like his party chairman, and former fellow member of the PPP, Khemraj Ramjattan, is no threat to the PPP, with which he grew up, politically. It is well known that Moses’ bold bid for the coveted nomination for election as Executive President of Guyana, had miserably failed, long before he officially switched allegiance to the AFC.
Allusions to the murder of Vincent Teekah, once also a former PPP stalwart, who had defected to the  PNC under the then government of now deceased President Forbes Burnham, is sheer political poppycock, at best.
At worse, it reveals a staggering revelation about the personality of a former PPP cabinet minister who was virtually soliciting support within the PPP that the late President Cheddi Jagan had favoured him to be a successor.
Truth is Nagamootoo, who appears to be his own political enemy, would be aware of the circumstances of Teekah’s  shocking death, as does the PNC, and he should, therefore, think of constructive ways to keep himself in the news instead of seeking to court public sympathy with a ‘death threat’ claim.
We hope, as noted earlier in reference to the reported ‘death threat’ by Ram, that Nagamootoo has provided the police with all relevant information in relation to the claimed warning on his life!
Whatever the decline in party politics and political morality in Guyana, the life of NO one—politician, lawyer, chartered accountant, media owner/journalist, police, soldier, priest or else—should EVER be under threat from ANY quarter.
The rule of law must always prevail beyond this immediate post-budget period when, hopefully, both Government and Opposition seriously reflect on the best alternatives for moving Guyana forward—NOT backward!