HERE is what I wrote in my column yesterday (Thursday): “What drives my anger is that the people who want explanations, accountability and apologies are hardened in their refusal to offer same to society.” As I write there is a big quarrel or maybe a huge fight taking place between the coalition units in the political party named the Forward Guyana Movement, whose presidential candidate was Amanza Walton-Desir. She now sits as the lone parliamentarian from that grouping. More on this below.

Darren Wade, who was on the PNC’s election list, used the word demand on his Facebook page. Here are his words: “We must demand transparency. What exact process was used to retain these lawyers [sic].” Wade demanded transparency in relation to the Jamaican lawyers, arguing the case for extradition of the Mohameds (who cares; they are CARICOM people anyway).

Wade is on slippery ground here because the Attorney-General cites the law that says the extradition treaty between the UK and Guyana and the US and Guyana requires the facilitating country (in this case, Guyana) to bear the court cost. Wade is on stronger ground if he calls on his party leader, Aubrey Norton, to be transparent.

There are more reasons and moral grounds for Wade to demand transparency from Norton than the Attorney-General. The issue with Norton directly relates to the political life of Wade. The deputy leader of the PNC, Shurwayne Holder, resigned as Chairman from the PNC citing absolute input from the leadership of the PNC in the selection of the 12 APNU parliamentarians. Holder told the Guyana Chronicle that after he learned that Norton alone was making the decision on the selection, he wrote to him asking him to desist. In that interview Holder was unambiguous – Norton made the decision.

Elson Lowe, another executive committee member of the PNC and the elected treasurer, used similar, unambiguous language. He told the Freddie Kissoon Show that Norton alone selected the PNC’s 12 parliamentarians. Now why Wade, a dyed-in-the-wool PNCite would not be concerned with transparency in his party? In which country of the world, the party leader makes all the decisions by himself?  In the face of this tragedy in the PNC, Wade wants Guyanese to demand transparency from the government.

The transparency spectre is haunting another anti-government activist, Amanza Walton-Desir.

The General Secretary of VPAC, Francis Bailey, has flooded social media with his acerbic condemnations of Ms Desir. In a telephonic conversation with me yesterday (Thursday), Mr. Bailey was in an accusatory mode, the contents of which I cannot repeat here, but his words of chastisement against Ms Desir centre on the lack of transparency and accountability.

Then there is the new kid on the block, Azruddin Mohamed.  Dr Mark France, former chairman of ANUG that merged with Mohamed’s party WIN, told me that it was the WIN leader who selected who would represent ANUG and not him, Dr France, the then leader of ANUG. A key person in ANUG told me that the date of the application for membership of the ANUG person who was selected to go to parliament was very controversial.

Where does all of this leave the precious value of transparency, accountability and obligation in politics?  Azruddin has never answered the accusation of Dr Mark France about lack of transparency. Aubrey Norton quite openly said that the 12 APNU parliamentarians were transparently selected, contrary to what Holder and Lowe said. Ms Desir simply does not answer the open public accusations VPAC is making against her. Of course, Darren Wade will not demand transparency from Aubrey Norton.

But check the Facebook pages of Wade and Ms Desir tomorrow and the next week, and the next month, and the next year. There will be the usual lyrics from them – the government lacks transparency and the people of Guyana demand it. They will not tell you what the people of Guyana demand of them.

We should not close without a mention of the former chairman of ANUG, attorney Timothy Jonas. When he was chairman of ANUG, I asked him who the members of the board of Stabroek News were since he was a member of that very board. Much to my amazement, the man told me he couldn’t remember who they were. This was the leader of an opposition party that couldn’t remember who he sits with in that particular forum.

I then asked the editor-in-chief of the Stabroek News, Anand Persaud, who the board members were. He rudely declined to offer the information. Read the Stabroek News editorial tomorrow, the next day, the next month, the next year. You will see calls demanding  transparency from the government. Come on, man; charity begins at home!

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.