Dear Editor,
In British espionage and author Graham Greene lore, there was a ‘fifth man’ out there. The mystery has never been satisfactorily finalized. Though suspected of being ‘out there’, how far out there was he really, and did he actually exist? That is the extended question that I ask about one David Arthur Granger, formerly first soldier, first citizen, and first among equals. In cricketing language, he is out there patrolling at third man. He is retired, but not quite; he retired limping, but not hurt. He is as aloof and remote as ever but, inexplicably, still substantively in the mix. Guyana feels his strange shadow, not-so-invisible hand, influential voice. His is not the stentorian presence of MacArthur; but more of an overshadowed Marshall, a whispery, elusive Vo Nguyen Giap. Yes, his parade ground presence offers a glimpse of that stature, among some. He came with much promise, now lives with clouds always hovering: opportunity not amplified. Though lashed mercilessly over obstinacy and hesitancy, I think he is due a follow-up lookup.
Beyond his faithful, he is remembered for one thing, one time, primarily. It is exclusively for national elections calls, and failure to concede early. Other lesser things, now condemn his leadership record for financial perversities. Where was he? Why did he not act? Why were comrades, known characters, retained? Notwithstanding those inactions, the 5-month (arguably 19 months) stalemate, checkmate, and elections-gate was his longest, darkest hour. In the season and time that challenged David Granger, he withered painfully, curled into a ball. Flogged and flagellated fail to capture ordeals, what now crowns him in barbwire. So much hoped for, so much wanting. Indeed, it is the sad, savaging Guyana story that sears, scars irreversibly. This is his enduring legacy, regardless of how partially accurate, minimally relevant, fleetingly wounding. But they are not. Man, group, and people are not spared, but scorched continuously; newer and unique ways found by adversaries to keep klieg lights on the highest beam. This is all they have going for them; nothing on their own that speaks to their paltry light, recommends them. The secret of his standing is that the former president retains loyalists, ethereal mystique, much of his fatigued muscle. From his self-orchestrated murky existence, he still projects in wide rippling arcs – ones with weight. I caution Guyanese-friends and enemies alike-not to minimize the man; the reach and heights of his depth. I believe there is a role for him still; an influential one; crucial it could be, contingent upon circumstances. I would neither dismiss nor disregard him. Not with Guyana’s politics configured as it is; the mind of the man; the racial and financial atrocities committed by those succeeding him, disparaging him, and using that as cover for their own wars of exploitations and extractions (rigging) against Guyanese.
His role must be advisor, the man behind the curtains; a mediator, maybe a powerbroker: an unbiased, trusted one. There will be such time soon. Should the situation so compel, then his service is as arbitrator; a principled, independent one. Put differently, David Granger must remake himself in the mold of a Carter-Jackson combination; less the mileage and visibility. He lacks oratory, but so did Arafat and Ariel Arik, yet both got things done; a tad untidily at times, but done. I urge him to revisit the record of Saul of Tarsus, and appreciate his reengineering, then use to restart towards higher ground. It is reserved for a chosen few only. If I were him, I would not worry unduly over adversaries across the increasingly agitated sward. It is their same self-destructive ways that devastate land, peoples, and prospects. Indeed, there are those so incurably addicted, they cannot resist eating their young. As family man, churchman, army man, and history man, I am positive that the former President discerns the doors beckoning, what should be the rest of his life’s work. It requires tremendous quantities of remedial action(s) appropriate to the moment; recent past also. The discipline of a lifetime career helps. Family. Country. Duty. Integrity. Before I forget: loyalty (to squaddie) pales numerous shades before those. The most intense focus should be on rehabilitation towards universal reputation, refurbished convictions, personal reorganization. Conversion can only be by his own hand. He can still recover, for I behold a man of promise, who dissipated his grace, when he allowed his time and environment to overtake him; when he proved not up to the moment, tasks at hand.
Like Saul the terrorist, who became Paul the evangelist, I believe that the former leader must travel from a man once feared and despised to one being a tireless champion of an ethos that lives. Thus, his journeying from Arthur Chung and GECOM to new things sung. He knows: neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freedman. Mr. Granger has a priceless advantage: political contemporaries are worse than him. For now, he must be seen to be above the fray leading to December 11. This is beyond internal; a nation watches: the franchise and future swings. The kind that the former is, too. For if executed cleanly, that may be leveraged into what could be nationally. In the tense, testy tussles ahead on the national stage, he must possess the wise head of an eminence grise. A figure of stability, of fall overcome, of rising from the ashes, of possibilities.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
