UNC stance — disappointing!

THE EDITOR: I write to express my deep disappointment in the position taken by the UNC with regard to the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council and the transfer of this function to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Lest my motives be misunderstood, let me start by saying that wild horses could not drag me to the polls to vote for the PNM. In my lifetime I have voted for various other parties, including Tapia, the ULF and NAR. If I were forced to characterise my current political views, I would have to describe myself as a member of NOTA — the large group of people in Trinidad who live in the hope of one day being offered a meaningful political choice and in the meantime stay away from the polls. The UNC appears intent on ensuring that it does not become attractive to persons like me.

I could not believe my ears when I heard Wade Mark claiming that the establishment of the CCJ was anti-democratic. I suppose he was alluding to the claim made by the opposition JLP in Jamaica that the arrangements for the selection of the judges may make them vulnerable to political interference. Nevertheless, it beats me how any self-respecting West Indian, particularly a citizen of a Republic, can hold out that the hearing of appeals by the Judicial Committee of Her Majesty’s Privy Council, a court imposed upon us as colonies in the British Empire, is more consistent with democracy than a court appointed, directly or indirectly, by the democratically elected governments of Caribbean countries. This claim is clearly laughable, but can safely be disregarded given the source.

What has really alienated me is the fact that seemingly bright, articulate younger members of the UNC had come out in opposition to the establishment of the CCJ, which the UNC endorsed and worked towards while in office. I was truly disgusted by Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s speech in Parliament in which she opposed the establishment of the CCJ on the grounds that none of the Judges appointed initially are East Indians. I don’t think I have heard anything quite as distasteful from anyone but the PNC in Guyana, a group of unrepentant racists bent on destroying their country if they cannot rule it, who would turn anyone who didn’t know better off black people for life. Dr Roodall Moonilal’s speech appeared more reasonable in that he sought to demonstrate that other countries, such as the UK, have adopted specific strategies to recruit judges from ethnic minorities so that they would buy into the English system of justice.

But it was equally sad because he was comparing apples and oranges. Our society is not comparable to the UK or other European countries, where the majority of the population are descended from persons who have lived in that country for thousands of years and the dominant culture is trying to absorb foreign minorities who have come into the country in the past 50 years. Our situation is in no way parallel to this. We may not have made the same trip on the same ship, as claimed by Stalin, but we all came here from somewhere else and this is a plural society, which is as much a melting pot as a cultural mosaic. In this context, any political party which chooses to adopt a racial agenda is destined for oblivion — fated to fail in the long term, if not immediately. One of the things about Barath Jagdeo that made him an attractive politician long before he became president of Guyana is his adamant opposition to racism in any form, despite the fact that it wins him no points with some of the core supporters of the PPP.

NANCY STOREY
Pt Cumana