PNM Continues to Confuse Fiction with Fact

It says something about the desperation of this PNM administration when the only testimony they are able to procure in their allegations against the former People's Partnership government are derived from persons who are themselves self-professed criminals. As was the case regarding Vincent Nelson QC, the current Minister of National Security is committed to launching an investigation into several UNC officials based on information provided by a non-national informant seeking asylum from the law. Unlike Mr. Nelson however, who has yet to provide written submissions to the court despite the passing of two previous deadlines, Mr. Young was today able to read from the novel published by Mr. Christopher Wiley regarding his transgressions, which the Minister expects the nation to accept at face value. Because the very same individual who confesses to his ability to influence and manipulate persons en masse surely can be trusted to tell the truth in a mass produced autobiographical memoir of the felonious events.

Putting that aside for now, there were some very disturbing revelations made by the Minister of National Security today that requires further investigation. Because despite his best efforts to deflect the questions regarding the work that Cambridge Analytica allegedly undertook for his Ministry, Mr. Young quite surprisingly appears to lack any information or evidence of these transactions. At the very least you would expect the Minister to produce financial records or receipts from his Ministry regarding the payments which would have been owed to Cambridge Analytica if indeed the work he alleges was carried out did in fact occur. Moreover, Mr. Young should also now be in possession of the reports which Cambridge Analytica would have produced during their alleged tenure however, he has neglected to state whether this is in fact true, and whether the information is still being utilised by the current administration. Instead, Mr. Young chose to focus the preponderance of his time to reading unsubstantiated accounts of Mr. Wiley's novel, while also pointing to another email transcript purporting to substantiate his claims. Because there if this government has demonstrated anything during their tenure, it is a stubborn refusal to learn from their mistakes, and clearly they feel that not enough time and manpower was wasted during the first "emailgate" scandal they produced.

And while we're on the topic of "emailgate", there was also a clear indication that the Minister of National Security was hesitant when discussing the role of his Ministry in the Cambridge Analytica investigation, which appears to implicate the current Commissioner of Police, as he served in that portfolio during the time period Mr. Young was alluding. This would mark the second instance that an investigation into alleged criminal activity of the People's Partnership administration would point to Captain Gary Griffth, and would therefore again suggest a conflict of interest. What's more interesting, is that there was also an allusion made in the past regarding Mrs. Nicole Dyer-Griffith and her purported role in the scandal, however, Mr. Young stayed away from any such suggestions in his presentation. While Captain Griffith is yet to publicly comment on the issue as of the time of this writing, it will be interesting to learn from him not only how he intends for the police service to conduct their investigations, but whether or not he is already aware of any details in this matter based on his past experience in the People's Partnership administration.

The timing of the press conference and the reemergence of this issue on a whole suggests that similar to "emailgate" the Cambridge Analytica is simply another scandal manufactured by the PNM ahead of the upcoming elections. While I am certain that Mr. Young would argue that it was the publishing of Mr. Wiley's novel which sparked the renewed interest, it should also be noted that there has been no new information revealed that would prompt an investigation, which wasn't suggested in the past. Surely the book cannot be presented in a court of law without notarised testimony to accompany it, but of course, that would require Mr. Wiley to stand before a court of law to declare his own role in the scandal. There was nothing Mr. Young suggested today regarding whether or not the only person to admit to the wrongdoing, will be charged in addition to those Opposition members being targeted by the government. As has been the approach by the PNM during their term in government, we must contend more persecution than prosecution in this matter, as their idle accusations have all been dismissed by the independent administrators of the Judiciary. 

Best regards,

Ravi Balgobin Maharaj