The new government should listen to the appeals of the people

Dear Editor,

 

Every incoming government needs the room of a honeymoon. Given the monstrous, still somewhat undiscovered, legacy inherited, the coalition requires more space and extended consideration than most new governments. Still, there are some things that I must table, and table now.

Having taken an early public stand for the new group, I want to see it do good, succeed. I believe that it can and will, given the right vision and approach. The absolute worst development would be for the promising new to emulate increasingly the sordid old of forgettable predecessors. The next worst thing would be for me (and others with similar interest and conscience) to look the other way, or to pretend all is well, or to gloss over in saccharine denial any grave missteps by the incumbents.

This would be failing the new group, an injustice to society, and a betrayal of personal honour. It is why I intend to tell President Granger what he does not hear, or may not wish to hear; I think he would expect such. If he is too busy to read the newspapers, it is certain that some in his cabinet or advisory council would be interested in learning through reading what is the pulse and thrust of thinking in the nation.

One of the failings of those now gone was their cast-iron refusal to listen to the cries and appeals pouring forth from the peoples. In time those cries and appeals gave way to harsh, insistent, irreversible condemnation. Thus, at this inception, my tone will be supportive of the new group in those situations that so warrant. And bearing in mind the youthfulness of tenure, the diseased state of society handed down, and the character of the issue, I plan to share in an exhortatory manner, through pointing out first, and then seeking redress. I envision being the constructive contrarian view, even what was not, perhaps, contemplated.

I owe this to the President and his administration. I also owe this to myself and those citizens who expect nothing less. I see it as my duty to help this government not be its own worst enemy; and further to not mutate into an enemy of the people. There was too much of that for too long. Let there be no more high nine figure (think close to a billion) political players and public servants; no more anthologies of official tawdriness at elevated echelons; no more squads and threats and real estate (Pradoville II) of any kind. These are among the things which will be looked for constantly. In short, this administration must not assume the sheen of the hideous distended mirror that announced itself as government before.

I have invested a lot of goodwill in the new people. I believe that they will deliver. On occasion, circumstances might demand a nudge or a push. That is my self-appointed role to fulfil by holding official and elected feet to the fire. I do hope that the actions of this government will not cross that line, which compels the sharply critical. I think that David Granger is too much of an honourable man to allow such deterioration in this newest of new beginnings.

 

Yours faithfully,

GHK Lall