By GHK Lall- Those who have had the glorious privilege of hearing Guyana’s president, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali speak, are guaranteed to be intrigued by the treat. Who is he? Guyana’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. T. Not the muscular Black one, but the maniacal White one, given to fits of demagoguery. For a moment, the temptation came to say of President Ali that he is an eerie parallel to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I wanted to send a clearer message.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. T is better. For there is Ali, as customary: one moment he is all civility, the next some type of barbarity grabs hold of him, and doesn’t let go. He can go from zero to 100 (meow to mayhem) in well under 10 seconds. Daily he beats his own speed records. The occasion was the funeral of PNC strongwoman, Amna Ally. May she finally find peace.
Intoned the pious-filled president, “politics is not war, and that even when we disagree, sometimes profoundly; we do not have to be disagreeable.” I must send Pres. Ali some audio-videos of himself in full flight. He may utilize his constitutional right against admission and self-incrimination. But the choice for observers is clear: Dr. Jekyll? Or Mr. Hyde?
It is astounding that a man who can be as raw as he, actually has familiarity with a word like “profoundly.” Nice one, boss. It is how a national leader who harbors ideas of his own legend aspires to be. Can he be? Not as a ceremonial master, nor a master masquerader that knows what suits the moment.
But possessing mastery of what is indefinable. For a leader of the caliber of Irfaan Ali, it is more likely to be what is unimaginable. To know what is truth, pursue it, and then live it.
Not just speak it, then congratulate self for a smooth job delivered. But to know right, fight for right, and do what is right. There is no hiding behind words that are meaningless, nor disguising intent in postures that are an echo chamber of the farcical. Guyana is rising on paper and numbers, yet a huge percentage of Guyanese are scrambling for survival, and clinging to fading hope.
No amount of saying the right things (the smooth and sleek) at the right times (loss and funerals) from foundations pretending to be about what is right (the national good) can overcome the contradictions in Pres. Ali’s record. Who can be more “disagreeable” than he? Or verbally assaultive? In carriage. In attributes. In language. In action. Refer to his champion, his model, his hero. Godfather and follower. This cannot be a country. Guyana is a political soap opera. Along the way, the soap melted. The Dr. Jekyll costume, Mr. Ali, wears thin. He would be alarmed to know that it’s that transparent.
The national headman said that “politics is not war”. Perhaps, he could share how his style and his substance do not amount to a declaration of war against those who disagree with his government. Whereas the other chap is a torrent of abuse, President Ali is a waterfall of the abrasive, and aggressively so. He is as persuasive as a python.
Mean and ornery, as they would say down in Texas. Instead of taking aim with all that warlike energy at the man next door, dissenting Guyanese are isolated and ambushed by presidential verbal rat-a-tat. Take his favorite citizens, “critics and naysayers.” Guyana is neither North Korea nor the new America, Mr. President, places where blind worship has monopoly power.
A naysayer, Mr. President, has inestimable value. Since no performance is owed for paycheck collected, then naysayers will disagree for cause, and out of conviction that wrong leadership decisions made, with worst coverups reinforcing. ‘So-called experts and authorities’, coming from presidential lips represent the height of belligerence, fighting words.
But Mr. Ali persists with his shams, and tell the Guyanese people that “politics is not war.” Is this man Mohamed Irfaan Ali a mirage, or a masquerader, or that games master, a professional mourner? I think that he has done the impossible: he is all three. For there he was in full cosmetic flourish (no bugles):
“Amna Ally knew the difference between opposing someone’s views and scorning their demand. She did not confuse ideological divergence with personal disdain. She could, with conviction, call out what she considered flawed arguments or poor policies, yet return moments later with a smile or a story that reminded everyone that politics is not all that we are.”
Unbelievable! This from the leader who sees anything and everything as “politically motivated” and “politically instigated.” One for whom “scorn” is a middle name. A man for whom politics is all. And, of course, the paper thrills that come along as part of the package. Regarding paper thrills, I encourage fellow citizens to think of rectangular shapes that are well-crayoned.
So, what do Guyanese have for a president in Dr. A? Whether in a house of pain, or a gathering to honor the dead? I hear (truly hear) glimpses of Dr. Jekyll. Then there is his better half: that frightening quality.
