Dear Editor,
There is the promise of change in the air, if the newspaper reports are to be believed. The new President, through his signal callers, is supposedly concerned about leased GPL generators, only now realizes that secrecy breeds suspicion, and putters around the issue of transparency.
In some quarters, there is a glow of anticipation. Guyanese yearn for truth and change, even partial ones. They shrink from, and want to forget, the vituperation and viciousness engendered by the peculiar orientation of the predecessor. Many are willing to hope and believe that His Excellency is different and will make a difference. They could not be more wrong, as nothing could be farther off the reservation. There are only more false starts, and pretences towards change ahead. The longstanding despair over leaders will continue and deepen.
Sure, the incumbent is personable and tolerable. He looks even better given the unparalleled coarseness and sheer vitriol that spewed from on high before. After the depravities of the gone local King John, Machiavelli himself could be mistaken for Mother Teresa. And so it is with President Ramotar. A careful look behind the affable public façade will reveal that nothing moves or changes willingly. An issue has to be exposed on a sustained and relentless basis, and the outcome all but inevitable, before belated signals and actions are wrenched from him; the man is the epitome of sounds of silence, and has blasted those sounds to unheard of levels. The CoP and Amaila Falls fiascos (among others) roar around the President; he stares blankly ahead. And on the burning issue of pervasive corruption, the President has neither openly acknowledged the reach of this scourge, nor taken an uncompromising stance. He does so in the face of the mini-voter revolt from traditional supporters; and more recently the damning utterances of the daughter of the party’s founders, leaders, and heroes.
Mr Ramotar refuses to stir. Why? Because, he is first, last, and always a creature of the party; it is what he lives and breathes. Country and society take a back seat – way back, according to this mentality. He knows that should he get real and serious about corrupt practices very few will be spared; not many would be left, so vast is this national apparatus, now operating with machinelike efficiency. The no longer new leader has to be cognizant of the scale of corruption, and that if he moves against it that the whole house could collapse, and the secrets of the bottomless cup bared. Whereas the other chap snarled at the nation, President Ramotar is content to essay a different style and approach; a deliberate leak here, an approved smoke signal there; nothing doing elsewhere. See Manikchand for approved signal. But behind it all is the tempered, inflexible steel of an old line General Secretary. Unless, of course, it is in the party’s interest to compromise or seek consensus, because no other options are left. Nothing else matters; nothing else counts save the party. In this regard, Mr Ramotar can be counted upon; he will be better than the last fellow.
Those naive or innocent enough to hope for a new era of change and principled government will be disappointed. Again. Just wait and look and learn.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
