Tem­pu Ne­fer­tari

SAT­NARAYAN MA­HARAJ

When the PP Gov­ern­ment an­nounced that it was bring­ing the Con­sti­tu­tion (Amend­ment) Bill 2014 to the Par­lia­ment to be de­bat­ed, the PNM im­me­di­ate­ly en­gaged in scare tac­tics that were all too fa­mil­iar to the gen­er­al pop­u­lace.Be­fore we en­gage in any de­bate con­cern­ing the bill, we must first un­der­stand the modus operan­di of the Op­po­si­tion and ig­nore its scare tac­tics and study what is be­ing pro­posed.

The Op­po­si­tion is al­ways quick to ac­cuse op­po­nents, or per­ceived op­po­nents of cor­rup­tion. When it lost the 2000 gen­er­al elec­tion, not on­ly did it ac­cuse the UNC of steal­ing the elec­tion, but it al­so went on to vil­i­fy the elec­toral process it­self and do a hatch­et job on the Elec­tions and Bound­aries Com­mis­sion. It cas­ti­gat­ed and im­pugned the in­tegri­ty of the com­mis­sion and be­smirched the rep­u­ta­tions of its mem­bers.

When they won the 2002 gen­er­al elec­tion, the is­sue of the in­tegri­ty of the elec­toral process that de­liv­ered their vic­to­ry was not held up to fur­ther pub­lic scruti­ny. We are still un­sure as to whether it un­der­took any be­hind-the-scenes "re­form" of the EBC in or­der to avoid any fu­ture un­de­sir­able elec­tion re­sults.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/dig­i­tal/new-mem­bers