A Comedy of Errors... (Unqualified Appointments Part 2)

The government's latest fiasco involving an individual with fraudulent qualifications and a fictitious resume being appointed to the sensitive post of Commissioner on the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 Coup attempt reads more like a medieval farce than the sad reality that it is and one is bound to be concerned for the stability of such an incompetent government. Seriously, shame would strain to effectively cover this latest bungling fiasco, and the newest rounds of 'iz not me, iz he' being offered as defense by none other than Presidential-hopeful Winston Dookeran is really too much to bear. Admitting that it was he who recommended Dr Hafizool Mohammed to Cabinet as a potential member of the commission without checking his bona fides, he rejects the responsibility of the final appointment stating that at the end of the day the referral should have been checked by the Attorney General who made the final decision? To quote our large mouthed Minister of Sports – “Whaaaaaat?” Is Winston Dookeran attempting to throw the AG under the bus for taking his word and accepting his recommendation? Balls that size could be sold on the open market and I must say Winston Dookeran is showing a deviousness that would make his former mentor Basdeo Panday proud. Is this then an agreement that politics do in fact possess a morality of their own?

That is not to say that the Attorney General does not have serious questions to answer here or that he is not penultimately responsible for this latest cock up, but the speed with which Dooks plunged that blade would have impressed even Brutus, that covert knife wielder of Shakespearean fame. Quoting Dookeran's desperate attempt to explain his failure here would add further insult to injury; his 'Peter-Principle-esque' rise through the ranks, his legendary incompetence and almost magical ability to dodge any real consequences of his past failures has finally come home to roost, but better late than never. The country must consider themselves as having dodged a bullet as this man was a hair's breadth away from being appointed to the highest Office in the land. The only advice I have for him is this - have the courage of the convictions you espoused the length and breadth of the country, admit you failed and resign. To do otherwise is to betray your few remaining loyal followers who need to remember you with principles to the very end, even if you never had the ability others tried to convince everyone that you did.

With regard to the Attorney General, one is hard pressed to envision him continuing on in Office, especially when one looks back over his brief not quite three year career in the position; the missing piano found where it was supposed to be all along, the appointment of an unqualified junior clerk to head up the nation's highest security apparatus, the still unresolved Section 34 fiasco, the on again/off again extradition of Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, the questions surrounding his decision to not appeal the quashing of the extradition order have all collectively stunk up the place beyond what could be considered bearable, but this, this is more than a last straw or a final insult, this is a demonstration of incompetence for high Office and the Prime Minister cannot in good conscience believe that she has any choice here other than to request his resignation or fire him.

Like the old saying - 'when things against you even wet brown paper could cut you,' I would hate to be Kamla Persad Bissessar this morning, sitting like Macbeth among the crumbled lies and the ruins of so much promise. Where do we go from here? A lot of that has to do with where she decides to go, and perhaps it might not be a bad idea to restart this whole endeavor, fresh. The smart money has to be on a return to the polls, but regardless of what she does here she cannot escape the final responsibility for the government, her Cabinet and everything that it does in her name. Anand Ramlogan and Winston Dookeran have to be removed from Office, and for many that day could not have come soon enough.