Spitting into the Sea... (Anand's folly take two)
.by Phillip Edward Alexander on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 10:31pm.
How do we begin to discuss the fiasco that was the proposed Hanging Bill and it's wounded failure when presented in the Parliament?
Most Trinidadians have not even taken the time to read this (most important) bit of legislation, mostly because they did not need to; regardless of which side they were on they received their opinions fully formed and they accepted their part in the piece, that of rabble and noise, and proceeded to play their part to the hilt.
Some are still playing.
The Government seems to have had no real intention of bringing anything like a constructive Bil to the Parliament and hardly took the time to draft anything of any substantial value; with all the nips and tucks and emergency surgery being performed on it, one wonders what exactly were they left with in the end, and what purpose did it serve.
Is it that it just had to look the part and was never meant to 'really' become law?
Put another way, it appeared to be the Parliamentary equivalent of a push before a fight, and the idea all along seems to have been to 'call out' the Opposition and to incite the nation against them should they fail to respond as required.
If that was in any way the intention it is fair to say that they failed on many fronts, the least of which being instead of making the Opposition appear obstructionist, they may have inadvertently painted them as 'overseers' of the Government's legislative agenda.
Me in their (the Opposition's) shoes, I would have voted with the Government just to call their bluff and put the burden of crime reduction right back where it belongs, on their side of the aisle.
I understand their reasons for not wanting to take that chance as the document proposes to tinker with the Constitution, but still....
It would seem that since winning the election and realizing that promises need to become reality, the UNC Government has been trying to shift the blame for their every failing or misstep onto every one else.
This Bill appears to be that same misdirection policy, revamped and pumped up on steroids.
The Opposition for their part absorbed all the vitriol the Government threw at them and then some, not even bothering to duck from the promised fire and brimstone because they, like everyone else in the Western Hemisphere, saw this bluff from a mile away.
Nice try Anand.
Reminiscent of the Queen in Alice in Wonderland's statement "verdict first, trial after," the Attorney General seems to have made up his mind and went public with it before gathering all the facts.
Maybe if he was not caught appealing to his 'friends' on facebook to back him up with quotes and statistics it would not have been so funny, and to quote Clarence Rambharat's column in yesterday's newspaper -
"Most bizarre about these card tricks is a Facebook appeal from the AG two days after he told the Parliament the situation (ostensibly brought on by the absence of hanging) was bordering on emergency, blood was flowing like water and people were being killed like stray dog and cat. Two days after a bold charge towards giving the hangman a steady job, the AG asked of his 4,741 Facebook friends: do you know of any papers/good quotes/stats in support of the death penalty?"
As it were, on what can be considered one of the most divisive of national issues, no one bothered to talk to the people. Believing bravado and gangster styled strong arming would be enough, the Government was caught attempting to raise sea levels by spitting into the sea.
If this is going to be how the Government pursues its legislative agenda from now on, I strongly suggest moving the AG's office closer to the waterfront.
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