IN a few of his recent columns, Mr. Freddie Kissoon says he looks forward for the trial of the libel lawsuit of defamation brought by the President against Freddie  in relation to allegations of the President being “racist”, king kong, etc. Any serious scholar analysing Guyanese socio-politico affairs will tell you Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is no racist and no autocrat.
Far from it, the President has cultivated excellent race relations and has been very generous in his distributions of resources to other racial groups than his own. Also, the President is a democrat never denying anyone their right to criticise him. Virtually no one I have encountered in polling exercises during Jagdeo’s Presidency has ever suggested he is racist or calling him a dictator. So Freddie will have a tough time proving his case.
Freddie says his lawyer will put the President on the stand for months questioning him about every aspect of his lifestyle, including his marriage. That is fantasy. I am no lawyer. But I study enough basic law and constitutional law, required in the field of political science, which Freddie says does not exist, to know that the matters Freddie want to raise in court have no bearing on the lawsuit. No competent judge will allow frivolous, irrelevant matters to be brought up in a lawsuit. In the U.S, if a lawyer raises unrelated matters, he will be warned and if he persists, he gets thrown out of the court for contempt. The President’s marriage has nothing to do with fascism or racism. Freddie made a specific allegation against the President and he called the President names that cannot be applied to an elected leader and certainly not to Jagdeo. =Freddie will have to prove his case with specific, substantive and overwhelming evidence in order to prevail in court. Freddie just does not have a case. Lawyers I spoke with in Guyana, including those critical of Jagdeo, and my own objective analysis of Guyanese politics have not found any evidence to back Freddie’s ill-conceived attack on the President.
Freddie calls the President “fascist” and a dictator. President Jagdeo will not fit into any kind of definition of those terms. He was democratically elected in free and fair elections certified by international observers including President Jimmy Carter. So I think the President’s libel lawsuit will be disposed of in days and Freddie will not prevail.
Although I think the President is in the right and there is justification for the libel suit, I am against the President’s lawsuit because I don’t think it is dignified for a President to be in court but Freddie has forced the President to pursue this extreme action against him.
I also don’t like the idea of media people having to go to court to defend their writings. Even a Freddie should have absolute freedom to pen his unsubstantiated ranting but there must be a limit – not continuous fabrications. Freddie has wronged the elected leader. As an academic, Freddie needs to be fair and objective, not an attacker. I hope some way can be found to resolve the matter – perhaps an apology from Freddie and a commitment to cease and desist in fiction writings. We have to respect our leaders when they are democratically elected. Elections are how we get rid of leaders, not calling them names. And the electoral process is open to challenge Jagdeo and his party. Freddie is free to enter into the fray, perhaps even to head a political party challenging Jagdeo’s PPP.