I WATCHED in amazement as the NICIL debate got underway in the studios of NCN with Michael Gordon, as moderator, and a panel which  included the Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh; NICIL”s CEO Winston Brassington; chartered accountant  and TV host Christopher Ram; Kaieteur News publisher Glenn Lall and his editor-in-chief, Adam Harris.
Great show and kudos to all those responsible for the initiative  and the end product.
But the show had to go on  without the ‘no show’ rock stars, the ones who kept pressing charges of corruption and mismanagement of NICIL by Brassington, accusations of a $50B, placed somewhere in an account , somewhere over the rainbow.
What happened to AFC’s Ramjattan and Nagamootoo?
I repeated in a letter addressed to the editor a few days ago, that these two are cowards. The debate was not the best in the world, but the civility in which these people of opposite sides conducted themselves, must be admired, as well as the commended efforts of Michael Gordon.
NICIL’s Brassington, quiet for most of the night’s proceedings, finally called upon by the moderator, referred to the accusations of, and especially  directed to the AFC, as ‘jumbie Arithmetic’, since they, the opposition, cannot come up with one shred of  loaded  evidence, regarding the $50B.
Adam Harris and his bossman tried to get cute with both the Finance Minister and Brassington, asking a basic question, getting a basic answer, but using drama, like Ram, to express his importance to his boss and as a late-entry member  of the panel discussions. Of course, he was invited to sit in, because of a question posed to Glenn Lall, who offered a direct answer through his editor.
I think the forthcoming answers from the minister and Brassington, confused Christopher Ram, to the point where he was stressing, and showed his discontentment. These people are just plain and simple, ‘PPP/C Haters’.
He asked questions, got satisfactory answers, but because these people have it in for the PPP/C Government, not a single explanation was good enough for him, nor Lall. For the benefit of those who might not be aware, all info regarding NICIL are available to the public, yet the same information was totally disregarded by the AFC.
They, Ramjattan and Nagamootoo were disappointed that the corner which they  forced the PPP/C into or thought they had, was not tight enough for the PPP/C, who danced elegantly out of the way of accusations continuously thrown at them. But like the world’s greatest heavyweight boxer of all time , Muhammad Ali, that’s how the PPP/C  looked, in the eyes of the public on NCN Tuesday night.
The Finance Minister did a class act, I would say. The man maintained his composure throughout, while Ram and Lall seemed excited and emotional, for the most part.
Dr. Luncheon is a stalwart in the truest sense of the word. I loved his style, the way he handled Lall and even Ram, with kids’ gloves, reminding Lall that his paper still stinks, in the most diplomatic form of course.
Dr. Luncheon is not a pushover, nor is he a stranger to the type of politics played out by all the opposition parties, now and in the past. Ramjattan and Nagamootoo were both saved by the bell Tuesday night. The referee, in this case the moderator, would have had to come to their rescue, all night long. Guaranteed!