…for older folks
There’s been a tsunami of protest over Prezzie’s appointment of the 84-year-old ex-Justice James Patterson (Any relation to the mystery novelist? His appointment’s certainly been a mystery!) to the chair of GECOM. Your Eyewitness was certainly part of that wave and so he wasn’t surprised he received a missive (Thank God it wasn’t a missile!) taking him to task.
What intrigued your Eyewitness was he hadn’t looked at the issue quite from the perspective of his interlocutor. Which was: “Prezzie was simply complying with the Brasilia Declaration”. The fella anticipated your reaction, dear reader – which was the same as your Eyewitness’ – What the heck is the “Brasilia Declaration”? Up to that point, your Eyewitness had being going on the premise that Prezzie was reflexively following his mentor Burnham’s “Declaration of Sophia”.
So your Eyewitness was edified to learn that the Brasilia Declaration – issued in 2002 – had to do with how we treat our “older folks” in terms of their human rights. Seems there was a consensus that folks remained human even as they become older – and retain their human rights. So Guyana promised to pull its sagging socks up in this area within five years – which just happens to end this year!!
And just to focus our attention on our responsibilities about what we’ve already signed along the dotted line, this year the UN declared at the beginning of this month, which just happens to be “International Day of Older Persons”, that its theme is: “Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society.”
So according to my interlocutor, rather than hauling Prezzie over the coals for appointing Patterson to the GECOM chair, we ought to give thanks to him for appointing OLDER PEOPLE to high positions in his Administration – starting from the very beginning of his term.
Patterson’s just the last in a long line of oldsters hired through Prezzie’s affirmative action.
In fact, because the UN’s getting serious about enforcing its resolutions – such as sending in troops under the R2P (Right to Protect) doctrine – Prezzie’s saved us from some serious blows. The UN is especially explicit on how governments treat older people’s “right to work”; “Sometimes older people are deemed ‘unemployable’ because of their age – this is a VIOLATION of a person’s rights in the workplace, everyone has the right to free choice of employment.”
In view of the foregoing, your Eyewitness demands that naysayers desist immediately from criticising our oh-so prescient Prezzie. He was the one instrumental in our dodging that UN bullet on older folks.
This is a country for old men!!
…for Prezzie
Some might be snickering that the PNC and its various arms (and legs) supporting Prezzie’s unilateral appointment of the GECOM chair, is like gilding the lilly. After all, isn’t he like, the “Leader of the PNC”? But is he? We have to remember, dear reader, Prezzie’s a new comer to the throne. He wasn’t there is the trenches, say, in 1998, to earn street cred when the real PNC were “wukking pon” Janet Jagan.
Being a fella who was parachuted into the leadership of the PNC, Prezzie’s kinda like Hoyte, who succeeded Burnham because the latter just happened to pass away unexpectedly. Because of that, fellas like Hamilton Green mounted a challenge to Hoyte – especially when he started the “cleansing” of the “Burnhamites”.
Against that background, we should remember Prezzie was vigorously challenged by Greenidge at the last Congress and there were accusations of fraud when the latter was “defeated”.
So the PNC, National Congress of Women (NCW) and YSM’s endorsement of Prezzie is quite significant, thank you!!
…and odious comparisons
It’s said all comparisons are “odious”. But isn’t it particularly odious that the PNC, which cussed out the PPP for two decades for its “lack of morality” and a “criminalised state”, is now using the PPP as their benchmark??!!
