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Raphael Trotman got an invitation
Apr 18, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
I only knew (and I guess 99% of the Guyanese people too) that Mr. Trotman got an invitation from President Jagdeo and met with the Head of State when I read that the Kaieteur News solicited a comment from him on the dialogue. Mr. Trotman made a huge mistake in informing the Guyanese people by way of a mere comment in the press as requested of him rather than his party, the AFC, issuing a public statement on what transpired. At the time of writing, there is no public emanation from the AFC. Maybe that party is yet to master the art of new politics. Maybe the old politics of the PPP and PNC is infectious.
Mr. Trotman, speaking to this newspaper explained that numerous issues were discussed including the Summit of the Americas. He didn’t outline the specificities muchless disclose the dimensions of those specificities. He did say that the upcoming Summit of the Americas was brought up by the President. This is the reason why Mr. Trotman got an invitation. President Jagdeo wanted to consult the Opposition on the Summit.
It boggles the mind to know how the Trinidadian event could hold more importance for Guyana’s future rather than the democratization of this country. Before we move to what Mr. Trotman should have known when he received the Presidential envelope, the implications of the Summit of the Americas deserve some mention.
Planned long before President Obama came to power, it is difficult to see what positive spin-off this could have for Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean. Somebody needs to give Mr. Trotman and President Jagdeo a lecture on the topic; “The Limits to Power in a Changing World.”
Mr. Obama has an immense attraction about him that fascinates the peoples on the globe. Mr. Obama has prodigious power to change the world for the better by being the President of the US, but expectations by small countries are going to be dashed because President Obama does not have money to share out. He simply does not have the financial leverage to increase by expansive standards the aid programme of the US.
Just what Mr. Trotman and Mr. Jagdeo hope will come out of the Summit that will benefit Guyana is a topic both men should tell us about. More money to fight drug trafficking may come. But that is about it.
Why did President Jagdeo hold a “consultation” (which was indeed farcical) on the EPA and not on a pressing domestic issue? Why did President Jagdeo meet with Mr. Corbin on climate change, again an issue that is not directly consequential to political harmony and economy and not on political change? Why is the President again holding consultations on another process, the Summit of the Americas, which is external to Guyana and not an exigent domestic situation like CLICO, the Freedom of Information Act, the abolition of the radio monopoly, constitutional reform? Can’t Mr. Trotman see that something is up, in that President Jagdeo is not interested in the Local Government Task Force because it would not have been dissolved if President Jagdeo was keen on its continuation? Why this willingness to meet with the Guyanese stakeholders on these exogenous developments, and not on the dire domestic dilemmas that stultify national development?
The reason is simple. If Mr. Corbin does not know it, Mr. Trotman ought to. Guyanese leaders from Burnham to Cheddi Jagan to Jagdeo have failed to achieve political and racial unity for Guyanese, have had no success in making the lives of the Guyanese people better, have shown no enduring interest in designing a new political culture that will enhance political tranquility, have displayed no willingness to accommodate the agenda of the Parliamentary Opposition. In such a state of failure, credibility and image are looked for by championing some international cause out of which the Guyanese Head of State achieves global recognition.
With Burnham, it was the North-South Dialogue. With Jagan it was the New Global Order. Jagdeo tried his hand at being the champion of Caricom with the EPA, he failed after Thompson of Barbados and Golding of Jamaica were not interested; Manning didn’t even whisper a concern.
Jagdeo is trying his hand at climate change. Things are moving very slowly on that front. The Summit of the Americas is an avenue in which he will try another champion-of-change act. He must be brimming with zeal because all the Heads in the Americas will be there. In the mean time Mr. Jagdeo seems to be happy to preside over an elected dictatorship at home. Wake up and smell the coffee Raphael!
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