On August 17 it became public knowledge that People’s Progressive Party stalwart Robert Persaud had been appointed to the position of Foreign Secretary in the Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C administration. A media release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation presented Mr. Persaud’s credentials, in part, as follows: “Mr. Persaud brings to this position vast experience in the areas of corporate affairs, government relations, and international business with expertise in oil and gas policy and business development, environmental management, integrated natural resources management, and the production and management of the extractive industry and agricultural sectors in Guyana with the desire to contribute to the advancement of people and communities through strong leadership, innovation, and reform.”
The release went on to state that Mr. Persaud had served as ICT4D Strategy Coordinator within the Office of the President, and as “Presiden-tial Advisor” and that in his new role he would serve as an Advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Hugh Todd on “issues of Foreign Trade and Diaspora Engagement.”
It will be recalled that when Mr. Carl Greenidge was named to the position of Foreign Secretary it was stated that his duties would be focused on serving as Guyana’s lead official in matters pertaining to Venezuela’s territorial claim against Guyana. Indeed, insofar as we are aware, Mr. Greenidge has been retained by the present administration specifically for that purpose. But then in a society where politicians have grown used to deconstructing conventional axioms Mr. Persaud has been kitted out with an entirely different set of responsibilities in his particular role as Foreign Secretary. It seemed, frankly, that with a new PPP/C administration in office Mr. Persaud was being eased back into the PPP leadership fold, albeit at a reduced level, at least for the time being. After all and on paper, at least, his duties were confined to ‘foreign trade and diaspora engagement’ and even then – again, so it has been made to appear – he is answerable to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a newcomer to public office. For those aware of these nuances Mr. Persaud’s new office would have seemed somewhat threadbare when set against his credentials as stated in the Ministry’s media release, not least, his two tilts in the position of Senior Minister.
Now that Mr. Persaud has been restored to a position of visibility in a PPP/C administration (without the PPP troubling itself to account for his protracted ‘disappearance’ therefrom) it would appear that all is well with himself, the PPP and its leadership. It may well be that Foreign Secretary Persaud has now ‘called time’ on his ‘sabbatical’ from politics and may now be in it for the longer haul. That could mean that his writ as Foreign Secretary may eventually run way beyond simply advising Minister Todd on “issues of Foreign Trade and Diaspora Engagement.” Indeed, much quicker than one might expect, his position as Foreign Secretary could metamorphose into a kind of Diaspora and Foreign Trade ‘Czarship,’ in effect a separate ‘portfolio’ that embodies matters to do with repatriation, foreign trade, foreign investment and perhaps a great deal more.
Little had been heard on the matter of Mr. Persaud’s day-to-day duties until a few days ago when he announced at a media briefing that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation had launched a Remigration Brochure. This appeared to have been deemed to be a suitable way of easing the Foreign Secretary into the day-to-day limelight even though there are those who might argue that the assignment did not fit the profile of a man who had twice served as senior minister.
It may, incidentally, surprise many people to learn that there had never been any really robust structure within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established to handle remigration. It became a focus in the 1980’s to facilitate the return home of literally a handful of mostly elderly Guyanese who had lived abroad for many years. The procedures, then, were limited to the repatriation of themselves and their personal effects. The role of our diplomatic missions at that time was more or less a consular one and it should be added that no serious staffing adjustments were ever made at the missions to cater for this eventuality. These days, given the significantly enhanced diaspora interest in Guyana, repatriation has become something different. Conceivably, too, issues of repatriation and overseas investor interests would appear to be heading in the direction of being merged into a single ‘package’ under the ‘portfolio’ of the new Foreign Secretary and if that turns out to be the case he could quickly ‘outgrow’ his substantive assignment as an “adviser” to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and simply take his exalted responsibilities elsewhere in the system.
