newsday.co.tt Will Dr Rowley do like Richard Nixon? Friday, September 5 2014 THE EDITOR: Since the 1970s, after the infamous Watergate scandal, the suffix “-gate” has become synonymous with political scandals in the United States and in other English and non-English-speaking countries as well. Here in TT, Emailgate is the hot topic. But what was Watergate? This was a major political scandal that occurred in the US in the 1970s as a result of the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC, and the Richard Nixon administration’s attempted cover-up of its involvement. When the conspiracy was discovered and investigated by the US Congress, the Nixon administration’s resistance to its probes led to a constitutional crisis. The term “Watergate” has come to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. Those activities included such “dirty tricks” as bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious. Nixon and his close aides ordered the harassment of activist groups and political figures, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service. The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by the Nixon administration, articles of impeachment, and the resignation of Nixon, the President of the US, on August 9, 1974 — the only resignation of a US President to date. The scandal also resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction, and incarceration of 43 people, dozens of whom were Nixon’s top administration officials. So in the Watergate scandal, a sitting President resigned. What will now happen to the Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and the slow closing of his “gate”? He used the august chambers of the Parliament of TT to air what turns out to be false accusations. The nature of these claims was extremely serious, attacking the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, the two highest ranking members of Cabinet. It was highly irresponsible actions by a seasoned politician and the consequences should be commensurate with the actions. Kenneth Lee-Pow Maraval © newsday.co.tt - newsday.co.tt
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 14:57:33 +0000
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