The race and subsequent election of Barack Obama to the White House was the one occasion many vividly remember. Indeed, Guyana has long been looking at the election of the president of the United States.
For some reason Guyanese believe that the president of the United States would somehow impact life in Guyana.
Because of the ethnic composition of the country, Guyanese overwhelmingly favour the Democrats. Perhaps it is because the Democrats have the reputation of being more tolerant of Black people. And to clear the air on Black people, it is apposite to note that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is called a Black person.
After the elections in Guyana and the studied intervention of Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, many Guyanese feel that Pompeo’s actions have come back to bite him. The very words he uttered to the Coalition—every vote must count—form the backbone of the argument for President Donald Trump to demit office.
Pompeo must not have seen it coming but when it came he was called on to recognize his very utterances a few months earlier in the case of Guyana.
Indeed the situation is different because there were invalid votes cast in the Guyana elections. Pompeo went scurrying to find similar occurrences in the United States. One must now wonder whether his present reaction would have been the same. One now wonders whether he would have been as vehement about getting Trump to concede defeat.
The vehemence that followed the regime change in Guyana has left some tongues hanging. There have been reports of some 800 public servants being terminated. Many of these were contract employees.
Some years ago there was talk about reducing the number of contract employees in the public service. Contracts allowed the employer to pay salaries beyond the range of the public service scale.
Back then the argument was that the government would have been unable to attract the necessary skills at the level of the public service pay scale.
What the propagators of the contract employee did not say was that the system opened the door for the appointment of political hacks and servants.
The result is that there has been a radical sweep of contracted public servants. Many had contracts in force so the immediate conclusion was that they had underperformed at their duties. Then it dawned that nearly all were people of African ancestry.
Most were highly skilled and were proficient at their jobs. No one could point to any underperformance. This took many back to 1992 when some highly skilled people were terminated.
In one case a Permanent Secretary who had skills desperately needed within Caricom, and whose local service was terminated, was immediately snapped up by Grenada.
President Cheddi Jagan realized the error and tried to woo back the Permanent Secretary.
There was a similar case this time around. That matter is still in the balance. The highly skilled individual is needed. He was sent on leave but somehow, his termination was not ratified. Suffice it to say that there is acknowledgement in the corridors of power that his skills are needed.
When President Irfaan Ali took the oath of office he vowed to rule on behalf of all Guyana. The actions of his government suggest otherwise. They seem to suggest ruling on behalf of political supporters. How else can one explain some of the appointments?
Two days ago the political opposition tabled two motions in the National Assembly. This is all well and good except that there is the fear that the motions would not be heard.
This contention was made clear before. When United Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, was coming to Guyana the opposition tabled a motion seeking to have it heard as urgent and private. With two days to go, Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir informed that the motion needed to be modified. It was modified and returned.
Lo and behold, with less than 24 hours before the visit the motion was not considered urgent. Pompeo came; his discussions were kept from the opposition who were not invited. It was a sad day. It was the first time that a foreign dignitary came on what was tantamount to a state visit and the opposition was ignored.
That could have been an oversight until once more the government refused to invite the opposition to the annual Remembrance Day observations. This, too, was history-making. And it did not stop there. The Chief Citizen of the country, the Mayor of Georgetown was also not invited.
If the government is an Old Boys’ Club then one can understand ignoring some sections of the society. But the government is supposed to be all-inclusive. President Irfaan Ali said so. But then again, what is a word?
