I am back with more unsolicited advice for President Ali as he labors towards finalizing his new cabinet. Recall: no criticism, simply unpaid consultation advisories. In his September 7th inaugural address, the president identified several crucial areas of priority to be addressed. One that stuck out in the face of Guyanese was his promise, almost an oath, to be a warrior leader on his newly unveiled corruption battlefront. May the angels be with the president, guide him accordingly, particularly in his choices of cabinet faces. It’s lonely at the top, and thankless are some of the decisions that must be made. When comrades have proven themselves in extraordinary capacities, it is difficult to send them packing.
The first crumb of humble advice for the president is that he wraps this cabinet matter soonest. Closing in on a week later, and no cabinet informs the Guyanese people that he is torn. How to let go, demote, those who have been so loyal, so energetic, so rich in their output, some on the books, some in their spare time? It is a tribute to the old PPP Government cabinet that so many of its members worked round-the-clock on the business before them. Can’t be easy, but the returns made all that energy expended worth the effort. After that soft pitch, things get a little tougher for Pres. Ali, which I regret having to share with him. Some of those old cabinet members have to go. Frankly, almost all of them should be given the boot. Since that, however, is not going to happen, there needs to be some creative reconciliation.
Whose name is mud on the road? The muddier names ought not to be back in the new cabinet, Dr. President. To cut a fine point on this, they shouldn’t be in this region. If that can’t be avoided, then they should be guests of the State, with all due amenities befitting their former status as ministers and so forth. Now, if the president were to be so bold as to take my unvarnished advice, he may not be able to finalize a cabinet before Xmas. Because his cabinet list would have thinned to that extent. So, what’s a president to do, this president who promised so much, and must deliver so much more?
Well, there is always that crop of PNC paratroopers who ended up on the PPP side of the field. I think that that would reinforce the president’s vision of One Guyana, take it to another level. A colorful one, that is. My arithmetic tells me that accommodation will be made for at least a large handful of them, which is going to produce some anxiety in the PPP camp of veterans, toilers, and proven loyalists. It is a delicate line that the president walks, while endeavoring to balance an array of intricate interests. I feel for him, because however well he does with his final cabinet, there will be those who believe that they deserved the recognition and promotion. Then, there would be those citizens left openmouthed. He, how can that be? She, is the president out of his mind? In the language that I promised, the latter is withdrawn (mind), and replaced by the president needs to be wiser, more cognizant of public opinion in Guyana, and official concern in the US. For those who think that President Ali has it hard, they should ask themselves how easy it can be for me to walk barefooted in a minefield that also has hot coals as part of its grassy knolls.
In a prior writing, I helped the president by identifying who should stay, with the best of intentions, and despite my worst misgivings. Now that favor is extended, about who should have been retired already, and not due to old age. It is just that their activities are as old as Judas, Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford, and names in the Panama Papers. For those who don’t know their Bible, Judas was suspected of raiding the petty cashbox that kept the pittances for the poor. Look, I must be blunt as one can be with a president, and since Excellency Ali is open to constructive criticism, I seize the opportunity to do good for my government, and my country. Pres. Ali would not come across at his brightest if he were to gleam brilliantly with anticorruption auras, while having some comrades, too many, who are known to be a certain kind of character right by his elbow, maybe in his bosom. I have taken a chance and been frank with the president on his cabinet. The rest is in his hands. May he select people with clean ones.
