I will never use personal terms in analyzing the Jagdeo presidency

Jan 22, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

On Tuesday afternoon, all Georgetown was buzzing with the contents of the ten-page statement of the former First Lady on President Jagdeo’s attitude towards her during their marriage and after the separation.
I would be bold enough to say that there isn’t a country in the world, except Cuba and North Korea, where the allegations of the former First Lady would not make the headlines in all the newsrooms.
The difficulty in dealing with this ten-page press release is to determine how far it is in the private realm or is it material of public importance? Speaking as a commentator, I am more concerned about the political statements in the document. I don’t think it is any of my business what transpired between the President and his wife. I will not dwell on those aspects of the press statement. I know that many fellow commentators will disagree. President Jagdeo has often used personally derogatory adjectives when referring to me. It is un-presidential but I will not respond in that way.
The former First Lady is a highly prominent citizen of this land and she made some trenchant allegations of political wrong-doing against the President as opposed to her personalized observations. Opinion-makers should analyze them because like other famous citizens, the media will evaluate what they say. In other words, if Sir Shridath Ramphal or Dr. David Dabydeen had issued political insinuations against Mr. Jagdeo, the media would have immediately rushed to print.
So why can’t we analyze the political opinions of the former First Lady while staying clear of the more personal details. The aspects of that ten-page adumbration that has my interest are two in number. One is her reference to corruption and abuse of power.
The other is that many sections of civil society are intimidated if they offer donations to her charity programmes. These are the pronouncements that concern me, not the personal dimensions of the lady’s recitations.
The most noticeable thing about this ten-page “indictment” is that it came out the same time the fantastic flow of history was underway – the inauguration of one of life’s giant personalities, Barack Obama.
Life is a mystery and will remain a mystery. Why can’t people like Gandhi, Mandela, Gorbachev and Obama come more often and in many more places? The inspiring thing about Obama is that he is history’s phenomenal emergence in the country that can change the face of the globe from one of doom to one of beauty and inspiration.
Will Mr. Jagdeo change his deportment after seeing the flow of history vis-à-vis Barack Obama? After all, the PPP sponsored an event at Red House to commemorate the Inauguration. My personal take on it is that it won’t happen.
But people can change suddenly and become fundamentally different from what they were. One would wish that Mr. Jagdeo undergoes a political transformation.
My belief is that Mr. Jagdeo does not understand the essential ingenuity that must accompany leadership of a country. Ruling any nation is not an easy task. You will be badmouthed. You will meet ingratitude. You will be hard-pressed to please all stakeholders. You will throw up your hands in despair.
But leadership demands extra strength in character make-up.
Most of all love of country enables the leader to withstand the concatenation of unjustified criticism, the phantasmagoria of unjust condemnation and the misplaced misperceptions that come from all quarters.
The hallmark of a good leader is to rise above those shortcomings of your people and try to change them. Changing sections of your nation that make irritating demands on you is a tall order but that it what leadership is all about.
My sincere belief about Mr. Jagdeo’s style is that he does not understand this quality of leadership. Mr. Jagdeo unlike Burnham, Jagan and Hoyte likes to fight those areas of society that do not like him.
He is unwilling to take the heat and reach out to them to prove to them that they are wrong. He has no patience with this angle of rulership and that will be his undoing. Mr. Jagdeo should read some of the things Mr. and Mrs. Clinton said about Obama during the Democratic primaries.
Both opined that Mc Cain was more eligible to lead the US than Obama. But Mrs. Clinton was given one of the most sensitive Cabinet portfolios by Mr. Obama.
Mr. Jagdeo appears to have thrown in the towel. He doesn’t feel he can win over constituencies that are opposed to him. That he is dead wrong about. His task as the elected ruler of his nation is to keep trying. I doubt he will.

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