Is the Opposition now encouraging the PPP/C Government to politically interfere with the internal functioning of the Guyana Police Force?

OLD Kai has found it necessary once again to remind the public of the Opposition’s two-faced approach to politics in Guyana. It is important, as it further exposes the fact that, depending on which way the wind blows today, you will surely find our Opposition moving in that direction. It unearths their fickle mindset; it shows that these are not leaders of conviction who you can depend on in a moment of need; they will say what is popular today, and readily abandon that tomorrow in favour of what is trending.
The latest episode of their two-faced approach involves the Guyana Police Force. Surprise! Surprise! The GPF has been a favourite punching bag of theirs. They have never passed up on an opportunity to accuse the PPP/C Government of attempting to politically interfere in our nation’s civilian law enforcement body.
How ironic that former Commissioner of Police turned APNU Member of Parliament, Winston Felix, would now turn around and constantly accuse the Government of political interference. This is the very individual who, when he was Commissioner, was overheard on a leaked telephone recording taking orders from the Chairman of the PNC to plant drugs on a Congress Place employee, and divert attention from the real perpetrators of the Agricola massacre.
But it appears that his official ‘coming out’ or ‘political baptism’ has seen this reborn politician having no memory of his past deeds, so he can stand up like a moral heavyweight and point down and lecture his successors on professionalism, while condemning the PPP/C Government for non-existent acts of political interference.
Taking directives, and illegal/unlawful ones at that, is not an act of political interference in his eyes. How more hypocritical can one get?
This accusation has also been parroted by the AFC; after all, they have become the ‘Minnie-me’ of the APNU for those of you who are familiar with the cinematic Dr. Evil and his minion trilogy.
An example of this position by the rapidly fading political party is its statement on October 2, 2013, which says, “the AFC has repeatedly called for a highly trained, professional police force, free from political interference…”
Certain ‘independent’ media houses have also taken up the accusation, as is evident in a feature by the ‘Once-Upon-a-Time’ newspaper in 2012, titled ‘Politics and the GPF’.
However, it appears that the joint Opposition has for the moment put aside their accusations of interference in the GPF by the Government, based on two recent episodes, the first, in no particular order, being the AFC’s announcing on May 14, 2014 that the Minister of Home Affairs should be held accountable for the lapses of the Guyana Police Force, with specific reference to the Damien Belgrave matter, where charges were dismissed by the Court against two ranks accused of firing a shot which killed the man outside a fish shop.
The Opposition cannot have it both ways; they cannot on the one hand maintain that the minister must stay out of the internal functioning of the GPF, and then on the other hand, hold him accountable when an issue arises.
The second episode occurred during the evening on May 13, where a group with known Opposition elements egging them on in the background staged a picketing action outside of the Head of State, President Donald Ramotar’s residence over the shooting of a 15-year-old youth allegedly by a police rank.
Old Kai is at a loss to think that, by their action, they are now calling on the Head of State to intervene in the GPF, the DPP’s office, and quite possibly the Judiciary to bring, as they say, a ‘quick justice’ for the aggrieved picketers?
Again, some of these very individuals are the ones to accuse the Government of interference in the GPF, but now they have apparently changed their position. It appears that the new mode of operation by the Government will be to interfere in the Police Force only when it is convenient for the Opposition, and then the world will make sense again.
These people need to be reminded that the Government can only issue policy directives to the GPF, and cannot interfere with its internal operations. The Director of Public Prosecutions office is independent; so too is the Police Complaints Authority and the Judicial arm of the State. We live in a functioning democracy; not an autocracy, and it should be noted that even the Head of State himself is on record as expressing concern at instances where, in almost clear-cut cases, the accused were able to walk free from justice.
Old Kai is certain that being the type of President he is, Mr. Ramotar would have already tried to find out about the progress of this case involving the 15-year-old; we would expect no less from our Head of State.
But, contrary to what the Opposition now wants, the President cannot and will not interfere with the due process of the law. The Police Force has already explained that because the lad was hospitalised and unable to speak initially, this had stalled their efforts at interviewing him, and, as a result, the overall investigation. The Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority is also on record as saying that it is impossible for the issue to be “swept under the carpet.”
Knowing all of this and still showing up at the residence of the President confirms that ‘the usual suspects’ are trying to turn this incident into a political issue. The pronouncements by the AFC and APNU have confirmed this which is unfortunate. They are trying to exploit this issue to attack the Government for being somehow responsible and at the same time want the very Government to intervene to achieve their desired result.
The Government cannot be responsible and at the same time they are asked to intervene, it further undermines the Opposition argument and underlines the fact that they are the equivalent to a leaf ‘blowing in the wind’ with no sense of understanding as to where they are really going.
These are the people who want to lead this nation.
Old Kai has one query though. Why is it we have never seen this group of ‘concerned Guyanese’ picketing against instances where criminals have killed innocent citizens? Is it ‘selective outrage’?