Dear Editor,
IN the annals of history, mad monarchs have been the focal point of fascination, and controversy for as long as there have been human rulers, from Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, to Joanna of Castile; and from Ivan the Terrible to Carlota of Mexico. Now in Georgetown it is no different, as the captivation of the citizenry with the bizarre stories of the ‘King and Queen’ of the city is hardly any different.

For some strange reason, the Queen well known for her pomposity and haughtiness is now considerably surprised and browbeaten at being upbraided by someone whom she may have considered to be one of her subjects in the city. How could this lady who is known to call on her Royal Police to throw councillors who disagree with her out of her chambers, and who is known to have threatened her predecessor with violence during the hearing of a no-confidence motion which she filed against him, not expect that one day the favour would have been returned to her? Will she now dismount from her high horse?

And why is the King, who like an almighty overlord chased vendors from pillar to post around the city; and who, superciliously using the forces of City Hall, blocked shipping containers from leaving city wharves unless they paid $25K; and who had persons arrested for cutting off clamps from their wheels in the notorious parking meter scam, now shaking in his boots at the inquiry?. Why the shaking, quaking and trembling?

Alexander the Great once said: “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. I ask the chairman of that commission to keep up the good work. The old people here in Guyana used to say ‘Big tree fall down, goat bite he leaf.’ Did the King and Queen not think that a day of reckoning was coming? Did they not think that one day the Augean stables of City Hall would have been cleaned?

Regards
Anu Bihari