Dear Editor,
This country makes me laff till I cry. Exxon’s Alistair Routledge took it upon himself to stick his nose and weigh-in on a very sensitive domestic political issue in Guyana. Short and sweet: there is no conflict of interest in the Exxon relationship held by one Mr. Nigel Hughes and his leadership of the Alliance For Change (AFC) political party set to compete in Guyana’s usually razor-edged national elections. What right has Mr. Routledge arrogated onto himself to meddle in Guyana’s internal matters? Who has given him that right? Or has he seized it unilaterally to pronounce on first who has political aspirations (G. Lall [not this one]) and now his wisdom extended of no conflict of interest regarding Mr. Hughes’s legal connection to Exxon and his current political connection, and hoped-for political connection, with Guyanese.
Not one to miss the odour of a threat to his political wellbeing, the response coming from Bharrat Jagdeo was immediate and unambiguous. Backoff, Routledge! There is a conflict of interest. Mind Exxon’s business and stay out of Guyanese business, buster. When Jagdeo talks like this, he and I are identical twins. Where was that Jagdeo all the while? Why does it take a menace to his political wellbeing, his continuing hegemony, to bring out the daring and dogged fighter in him, notwithstanding that Exxon is the one he takes a swing at? Man! is his political antennae finely tuned, or what! I have hedged relative to whether Mr. Hughes has a conflict of interest, taking the fifth on that one. However, I certainly think that he should have a conflict of conscience, even a crisis of confidence along with conscience, considering what is at stake, and how much his return to prime-time politics means for the listless in this country. All his hair smoothing, and rhetorical splitting, does is to highlight that he has not positioned himself in the best place right from the starting gate in what promises to be a hotly contested race for the national political crown.
Now, there is a separate point that I must make for the edification of all Guyanese, and I make it unequivocally: the statement from Mr. Alistair Routledge of ExxonMobil Giyana is more than about conflict of interest, or lack thereof. It is more than about assuming the risk of being tarred with the brush of meddling. Mr. Routledge’s public statement is a pro Nigel Hughes position from ExxonMobil Guyana. It is a nuanced Nigel Hughes endorsement. And there is more in that mortar that is set to come out as the months lengthen and the time to the next general elections shorten. Remember that I said this in July. In some respects, this helps to explain the return of one Raphael G.C. Trotman, and where he is now powerfully ensconced. Exxon and America have now individually and in combination metamorphosed into the determining factors and arbiters in most things Guyana.
On this red herring issue of conflict of interest, I discern some unwelcome disingenuousness in the tortured reasoning of Mr. Hughes defenders (and he himself), but there is no denying some immovable and irrefutable facts of Guyanese life. First, Exxon is the source of our anxieties and anger and antagonism, regardless of the special position that it holds here. Perhaps, it is because of it. The opportunity and the obstacle. Second, Guyanese are fighting for freedom from an economic yoke and Mr. Hughes cannot stand as champion on both sides of the table, recusal or not, oil and gas committee duly considered. With all this said, this remains a purely Guyanese matter, and it is the height of overweening haughtiness for Mr. Routledge to venture into these shark-infested waters. Mr. Routledge is out of place, out of line, and should be out of time. I elaborate on the latter. Let this argument about conflict of interest be one issue to be resolved by Guyanese and Guyanese alone. There is still, however, the one that will not go away anytime soon: Exxon’s Hughes’s endorsement.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
