At the time of writing, both President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have ordered enquiries regarding the intelligence that was gathered in justifying going to war with Iraq. During that war and in its aftermath more than 500 American soldiers have been killed and thousands of Iraqi and other civilians have been killed.
The reason for going to war now seems to be unproven, but both Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair will remain in office during and possibly after the enquiries in their respective countries.
Consequently, in Guyana I cannot see any reason why an independent enquiry cannot be conducted into the allegations made by G. Bacchus against Minister R. Gajraj - whether he remains in or out of office, to get to the bottom of the whole issue. The failure to do so is a very serious indictment against this government.
There are very serious matters pending against both Ministers R. Gajraj and C. Rohee which should be dealt with by the party's central committee rather than slide into subterfuges and diversions and make Khemraj Ramjattan a scapegoat that is being led to the sacrificial altar by a well orchestrated plan by the "old order" in the party.
The multiplying effects of this and by implication to draw the USA embassy into the morass will be damaging to the entire country and may move into the rank and file of the party.
The PNC/R is aware of the importance of stability for progress.
They should not embrace every opportunity for instability.
I hope they don't forget how many people were killed in their homes by bandits on the East Coast Demerara earlier in 2003, most of those were Indo Guyanese.