Please let us pray fervently for our country.
The wheels are coming off the rails. The two leading political parties have taken extreme stands that will not help to promote peace in the country. But who can blame the APC ? How can one conduct a judicial hearing without rules of evidence ? Are we living in the jungle ? In this day and age, we cannot circumvent the law and the constitution for political expediency.
This impasse will not lead to peace and tranquility. It is wrong to hold that the commission will be fair without rules of evidence. You cannot exclude Rules of Evidence and have a fair trial.
We used to be a nation of consensus , peaceful negotiation and political tolerance.
When the students demonstrated against Pa Shaki in 1977; he did not go the deep end with them. He had the whole army and ISU on his side, but he listened to Hindolo Trye and other student firebrands. He listened, dissolved his cabinet, prerogued parliament and called for fresh elections. After that, we moved on as a nation.
When the Labour Congress declared a nation-wide strike in 1983, Pa Shaki negotiated with them and accepted their conditions. He bent over backwards to listen to the angry workers and in that way saved the nation. Politics is give and take. Even life. One cannot say it is either his way or nothing at all. You have to listen. If your own Bar Association and civil society are disagreeing with you, you have to listen.
President Bio must display maturity as was done by President Stevens during these most critical periods in the life of our nation.
I have nothing against a commission of inquiry if the aim is to promote transparency and accountability. I do not think that the opposition is also against it because many people are desirous to redeem their good names. But if everybody, including the Bar Association , the media and civil society are standing together on one issue, President Bio must listen to them. President Bio must show that he means well. He must try to prove everybody wrong and that this is not a witch hunt by making the process fair and legal . But that does not seem to be his priority. And it is wrong. His stance is dictatorial.
We are tired of political confrontation and chaos in our country. We want to see peace . We are tired of antagonizing one another for politics. We want to live in peace with our brothers and sisters. We want to see progress in our nation. During the last 10 years, we saw unprecedented infrastructural progress and other developments , but everything has come to a stop today because of political brinksmanship .
We cannot erase one another. The APC will never be able to erase the SLPP. Likewise, the SLPP will not be able to erase the APC. If the SLPP tries to do that , it will only trigger chaos and this is not what our people want or need now. This was not what they voted for last year. They want to be able to provide three square meals a day. They want to see themselves and their families healthy, wealthy and in peace.They want to see progress in their nation.
The best solution out of the present impasse is to follow the law and have Rules of Evidence.
The government needs to leave this brinksmanship and high- wire politics and govern our nation in fairness and with equal rights and justice for us.
