Dear Editor,
I have become a bit of an Irfaanologist in the last week. Three events, three speeches. Two cut and paste but the third at a gathering of the diaspora on Thursday was far and away the best. Simply, he threw away his notes and talked ad hoc and from the heart. Pressie Ali put some skin and bones on the nebulous ‘One Guyana’ slogan. Some jargon leaked in like ‘exogenous factors’, ‘Not transactional but transformational’ and ‘externalities’ but most in a simple language (English) that Bill could comprehend. ‘One Guyana’ is a tripod with three legs People (Six different races fused together), Nation (a belief in democracy and the rule of law) and destiny (richness of opportunities).The three legged animal is aiming to drive Guyana to the new world with world class education and health systems. Technology will rule – computer coding learnt by eleven and software development by sixteen. Not quite Bharrat’s ‘One Laptop per family’ but one computer programmer per family.
The pressie outlined the base values – as he sees them – of the Guyanese. Hospitable and humble, based in religion and allergic to democratic deficits. He could not avoid mention of the March 2020 attempted election rigging… Speaking to 80 or so in the august setting of the Gladstone library of the National Liberal Club, he called for the diaspora to become a force pushing for good. The boy from Leonora turned national leader was only stumped when asked to outline his legacy after two terms in 2030. He laughed then reposted ‘A prosperous future achieved through blood, sweat and tears and hard work.’ Bill was inspired and he suggested a bonfire of those bog standard speeches more often.
Bill left an empty seat beside him in case the new High Commissioner to the UK, Raj Singh, was to show up at the third time of asking. No such luck. Still delayed on ‘Arbitration matters’ (his words note the subtle difference) in New York City. He promised Bill he would be in office on June 1st but in the meantime three significant audiences – potential investors, UK politicians and the diaspora had been sold a bit short. All were puzzled about his no show. So too Bill. His eyes are now peeled on the front door in Bayswater road waiting for GYA 1 to deliver its human cargo fresh from a first-class transatlantic flight. London’s calling… Hello Raj, Goodbye Irfaan. Pip! Pip!
Sincerely,
John ‘Bill Cotton/Reform’ Mair