Dear Editor,
I feel sorry for President Ramotar. Though the bulk of my sympathy is usually reserved for the suffering masses, there is still some left for the man.
Each passing day, and almost all developing issues of serious national interest, expose the President as someone out of his depth and floundering, and distinctly out-of-place with the finely tuned demands of his office. He has power, but knows not what to do with it. Simply study his reactions (or non-reactions) to the crises of the moment and he is discovered to be invisible, inaudible, and inconsequential. Whether Linden or corruption or ranking personnel issues, President Ramotar shrinks further before the eyes of the nation. A considerable achievement, but he succeeds somehow.
In this enlightened age, leaders are no longer condemned to the Tower. They simply muddle along, hoping for the best, trusting in untrustworthy holdovers, and relying on the sturdiness of the faithful.
It is said that history has its share of blank pages. It could be said also that the President has compiled a small volume of his own through monumental silence, determined absence, and those memorable occasions when it would have been better if he had maintained both silence and absence. The leader is a shadow of a shadow, and he is increasingly too comfortable with this way. Some examples should suffice.
Where does the President stand on corruption? Understanding and forgiving, very forgiving. What about the Guyana Police Force? Well what about it? Is there a problem there? Okay, so what about secrecy in government? It has its merits, and serves its purpose.
These are some of the contexts in which a country languishes, and waits to be run; where a fair share of unscrupulous men linger, when they should be run out of office and town. There is no movement on these fronts, nor does there seem to be any interest in doing so. Mr Ramotar’s world is focused with not rocking the boat, not upending the cup, not abandoning comrades. Not today. Not ever. He is the right man for this particular season.
For a society marooned at the crossroads of division, distrust, and fear, this is nothing short of tragic. By all accounts and calculations, no progress of any kind is to be expected. When all things are considered, and the man himself, an appropriate political epitaph would be: “Nothing expected, nothing delivered, nothing realized.” It is fitting. I did express some sorrow for the President earlier. Now who is ready to feel a tad of the same for this nation and the bleakness that shrouds its days?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
