Dear Editor,
I take the liberty of humbly offering a few simple recommendations to President Irfaan Ali. It starts with how he communicates. Incorporated in all of this are his tones, his strings of words, his speaking style, his body language at the time, and his overall demeanor. I believe that if our president were to listen and adjust that he could win some hearts, mold some minds (in the right manner), he himself be better for his endeavors.
First, the focus is on the positives in Ali’s communications attributes. His words are simple, his sentences short. It is a good standard. The President is direct. Third, Ali has shown that he has depth, but only when he exercises great self-control, like he did during that British TV interview where the host did everything to introduce some disequilibrium in Guy-ana’s headman. This just goes to show what Irfaan Ali is capable of, when he manages himself tightly. Now for the other side of President Ali, what characterizes his communication standards. It is his dark side in which he allows a raw, raucous, and rollicking streak to emerge and dominate his presentations. In short, it is as if the President has to prove some point, and to do so he will stick his fingers in the eyes of those rile him.
Bluntly, there is too much of the bouncer in the President’s demeanor, as if he is on a show of strength, which necessitates him throwing around his weight, with sticks and stones for words. He must always remember, he must never forget, that he is Guyana’s leader and not some common street brawler. His posture, his tone, his temperament, and his style are too much infused with the boisterous and the belligerent. With absolutely no offense intended, President Ali comes over as too much of a bully seeking to remind everyone of his brawn. Whether so or not, this is the impression created, what lingers in the wake of his words. His style is too pugilistic: presiding and governing are not boxing matches.
From my very limited observations of President Ali, his body language transforms when tough questions are put to him. He seems to detect some existential menace in inquiries about oil and gas, or corruption secret governance (under his watch), and conclude that his best response is to fight with overpowering menace. I urge my fellows to watch the president as he bristles, and then proceeds with the bruising and battering, as if it were some imagined wrestling match, and not the national interest at stake. The entire picture is of a president ready to mix it up on the mat. Regarding why President Ali is so electrically sensitive, a man with the visible, audible, and terrible temper of a turkey, I cannot pronounce. What I do discern is that part of his rage serves as the first shield in his defense mechanism. I remind my fellow Guyanese of this little street wisdom: get past the hollow intimidations of street bullies, and they fall apart, head home to mama.
I think that when President Ali adopts this as his pose, as his communications modus vivendi, he does himself and the nation an injustice. I give this benefit: he can do better, for I have observed so (inaugural, dealing with foreigners). The same must apply to locals. Tone down, slow down, calm down; think, then talk. In departing, I leave this test for President Ali: renegotiation is not an option. Renegotiation is not about the retention of power. Renegotiation is about leadership passion towards improving the condition of every Guyanese. Renegotiation is, and must be, the immovable conviction of every Guyanese, dead or alive.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
