– or is he Nascimento, the Kid?

Dear Editor,
TEMPER tantrums can be frustrating for any parent.” (kidshealth.org)
I know the adult population of Guyana must be frustrated by the tantrums thrown by someone like Kit Nascimento who is simply reacting like kids throwing a temper tantrum when they don’t get what they want. The fact that things are not going his way or according to the nefarious plans of the ‘mob’ he represents, Kit Nascimento throws this tantrum, calling Guyana’s most highly-respected and distinguished Statesman, His Excellency the President of Guyana, David Granger, a hypocrite.

‘Kidshealth.org’ encourages parents and adults to be patient in the face of kids’ tantrums, and to use them as opportunities to educate. This response to ‘Kid’ Nascimento’s tantrum is an effort to do just that.

Assuming that there is a pause between tantrums, we can now patiently and politely remind ‘Kid’ Nascimento that Guyana is a country of Laws. The Rule of Law does not work exclusively for one elite group of society, although we recognise clearly that he and his cohorts would relish that, and are working to make it so. In fact, Guyana is a democracy which is “a system of government by the whole population or ALL the eligible members of a State”. If we have not yet lost the kid’s attention, the adults around him must go on to explain that the definitions above create no scope for Mr. Granger to determine who must approach the courts, and when and who must not. Calling him a hypocrite for his observance of, and respect for, the Rule of Law does not make him one, even if you do so, kicking and screaming like a child in pampers. Got that so far big ‘Kid’ Nascimento!
Ok! Let’s proceed. When you say that ‘all Guyanese and all the democratic world has witnessed the failure of GECOM to deliver credible results’, there are a lot of reasonable people who would agree with you. Some have argued passionately, for example, that they have hard evidence of election fraud by the PPP in Region 3, and have asked for a recount, but the RO said NO!!! (His right under the law). Others said the same for Regions 2 and 6, and in those cases, the ROs again said NO!! (Their right under the law). Was ‘Kid’ Nascimento aware of those facts?

But no one has any right to call Bharrat Jagdeo or Irfaan Ali a hypocrite, because they did not fight those ROs who are perceived to be loyal to the PPP. If their loyalty to any Party led them to do anything that was unfair towards another is a matter of concern, and for GECOM to address. The evidence should be presented at an appropriate time and place, and those allegations must be addressed. It would be unfair to call the PPP leadership hypocrites, if they benefitted unfairly from those ROs’ exercise of their rights, under the law, UNLESS, of course, that same leadership would require a different standard in other regions. To the best of my knowledge, Nascimento did not call anyone in the PPP a hypocrite. No one threw any tantrums because of Nascimento’s and the observers’ deafening silence on those matters. Everyone accepted that they were respecting the Law in Regions 2, 3 and 6.

For some strange reason, everyone, local and international, appears to struggle with that same Law when applied to Region 4. I believe what Nascimento’s tantrum has highlighted is that he and his strange bedfellows, locally and internationally, are appalled that one group of Guyanese has the audacity to expect equal rights under the Law. His obviously infantile tantrum amounts to the following question they posed themselves, and the self-serving answer they provide themselves:

Why can’t the members and supporters of the APNU-AFC coalition not accept that whereas all persons are equal under the Law, ‘some are more equal than others’?

Now for their self-serving answer: Since Mr. Granger seems unwilling or incapable of imposing his personal perspective upon every single stakeholder in the ‘Coalition’, that leads to the erroneous conclusion that it must be that he is a hypocrite.

If Kit is not the kid his baseless tantrum depicts, then he must agree that Mr. Granger’s efforts to bring resolution were very well-intentioned; that’s a truth even the blind would recognise. Mr. Granger, however, must not be held responsible for every single action of every member of the ‘Coalition’ he leads, especially when those members/supporters are exercising their democratic right under the Law. All Guyanese are equal under the Law. Ulita Moore’s struggle is really one to keep it so. Kit Nascimento’s tantrum is nothing but childish. Having used it as an opportunity to educate, let us now move on… And I am sure that Kit, the kid, will soon catch up.

Regards,
Mark DaCosta