Thank God for UNC, judicial review

THE EDITOR: If there is one thing that has consistently protected the citizens from the dictatorial tendencies of the PNM it is judicial review – and for that we must thank God for the UNC.

The latest judicial review victory in the police promotion process has once again exposed the injustice and political interference that define PNM governance. But let us never forget: before the UNC introduced the Judicial Review Act in 2000, citizens had no right to challenge government decisions in court.

Under the PNM, whatever the government decided was final. No questions. No accountability. No recourse.

It was the UNC that fought to give people the right to challenge the state in court, to hold the government accountable, to demand justice when wronged. This was a revolutionary change in how citizens relate to governmental power.

And this was not the only democratic reform the UNC succeed in bringing about.

The UNC was responsible, in 1999, for the the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), another game-changing law. Before that, government decisions were hidden behind a wall of secrecy – just the way the PNM wanted it. The act gave citizens the power to request information from the state, to shine light in dark places, and to demand transparency in how our country is run, and how our money is spent.

And what did the PNM do? It opposed the FOIA. And every time it returns to government, it does everything in its power to block, frustrate, and undermine FOIA requests. Because the PNM survives on secrecy and deception.

Then, in 2000, the UNC introduced the Equal Opportunities Act, ensuring that discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, or origin was illegal. Once again, the PNM fought it tooth and nail. And to this day it deliberately underfunds the Equal Opportunity Commission to make sure it stays weak and ineffective – just like it does with every other independent institution that is meant to protect citizens from abuses.

The UNC has always been about empowering the people. The PNM has always been about controlling them.

The PNM's political philosophy is one where the state has absolute power and the people must accept whatever crumbs they are given. The UNC believes that the people are the masters of the government – not the other way around.

And for that we must be thankful.

Without the UNC we would still be trapped in the bad old days of PNM absolute dictatorship, where the people had no rights, no information, no protection from discrimination, no ability to challenge state injustice.

So today we must thank the UNC for enabling democracy to prevail even when the PNM is in power.

Let us appreciate our hard-won gains – and never allow the PNM to drag us backwards.

Thank God for the UNC.

DAVID LAW

via e-mail