Dear Editor,
When events and developments on the political front are looked at, it seems that almost every day the President surrenders willingly a sliver of precious goodwill. Over time this adds up, and the losses count; they count today and will be
resurrected later to deliver an even sharper piercing. In thinly separated Guyana, these losses will hurt.
It is for these reasons that I humbly exhort President Granger to be about the new and not the old and the endlessly dividing; to be about what is distinctive and not what is disloyal to the Guyanese voter; and to be the engine of what is differentiating. He cannot be any of these things, or about moving forward, if there is continued stout insistence on looking backward.
His first loyalty has to be the Guyanese people. Look at them: confused, abused, used, and refused herds of sheep. There are two main herds, to be sure. The most urgent loyalties cannot be to present and past comrades, through placeholder presences and financial bonanzas that have only the feel good texture of memory lane to justify. This dedication to make things good (not necessarily right) tell more of the emotional, and less of the cerebral; they also resurrect many a dark suspicion of darker times besmirched by deeds of the darkest nature. I hear talk from the public of rewarding for all that was wrong.
This leadership inclination and movement, traceable by its downward trajectory to cushion political elders, and these love affairs with financial re-gentrification of venerable political brethren speak poorly of priorities, misplaced priorities. At this rate, there has to be others in line from the memory bank for rewarding. Oscar comes to mind, and so does Cammie. There could very well be others waiting patiently and out-of-sight of their turn. The President should know that while I not against him (yet), that I am against some of these things that develop under his watch. I caution that these are self-inflicted wounds that ought not to be, and that leave visible, easily exploitable scars for tomorrow. And they are scars that will be exploited without regard for accuracy or decency. Why empower? Why give a lease on life to those floored and searching for traction? Why?
Every ten positives, when they can be detected, are overwhelmed and degraded by one single unbecoming negative. Realizing internal party priorities lead to temporary moments of cheer and self-congratulation; the denunciations unleashed speak of permanent rivers of rancour and the uncalled for self-damnation. It is why I say that the roll call of missteps, brimming with premeditation, are self-sabotaging and self-destructive; they are inimical to progress and perpetuation.
The questions making the rounds are: what is paramount? Is this the core of the man, of his team, and his interests? And last, what about those on the outside unattached and unnoticed, where do they stand in the grand flow of moments and decisions?
The President garlands himself with a telling albatross, if he continues serenely along the same lines. It is that he extends the gallery of the run-of-the mill leadership that has been inseparably linked to the fates of this land, and responsible for the durable calamities inflicted. It is that, whether directly or indirectly responsible, the hard, now unforgiving stares are directed his way. He cannot look away.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall