THE VERDICT OF THE PEOPLE

Oct 22, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

When Brian Lara left the cricketing stage after Cricket World Cup 2007, he asked his adoring fans one final question, “ Did I please you? “
There was no need for an answer to that question. Brian Lara brought a great deal of joy to cricket fans all over the world.
Like all great cricketers, political leaders also ask when they have come to the end of their term whether they have pleased. And no doubt as our own Bharrat Jagdeo leaves the crease of political power for the last time in 2011, he too will question whether he pleased the people of Guyana.
It is not going to be easy for him to get a unanimous answer. For many, he would have tried his best given his own personal limitations; for others, these limitations would always deny him doing the best. What is certain though is that there is a small group of business persons who will certainly feel that Bharrat Jagdeo was God’s gift to Guyana because under his leadership they flourished and are likely to flourish well into the distant future.
But what about the people, what will be their verdict of the 12-year presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo? It is this much larger grouping whose views will be given the greatest account when the definitive history of the Jagdeo presidency is written. There will be some who will say that he brought significant progress to the country- and there can be no disputing that economically Guyana is far more improved than it ever was.
There are others who will say that better could have been done had issues of corruption and reforming of the Disciplined Services taken place. And of course there will be those who will give absolutely no credit to the President for his tenure. They will find excuse after excuse, reason after reason to deny that he did anything good for the people.
So how does one leave the presidency of any country with one’s conscience intact? Does one recap the many good things done for the people: all schools fixed, all the houses built, all the water lines laid, all the new schemes now receiving electricity, all the bridges built, all the ribbons cut and seeds planted. There is no end to these accomplishments. They can fill pages upon pages. But are these the things on which a great ruler is judged?
Or will any great leader be judged for the most fundamental thing which the State is required to provide: the security of citizens from external and internal attack. How has the PPP State performed in this area? I think even the most die-hard of PPP supporters would find it difficult to say that the PPP excelled when it came to the protection of its citizens.
I notice that the opposition is compiling a dossier on unexplained deaths in Guyana. It is a pity that they are concentrating on only the period when the PPP is in office because if they went further back they will find just as many extra judicial killings as their present dossier can accommodate.
Security has historically been a problem in Guyana but under the PPP, for reasons well- known, things went asunder. And the PPP under President Jagdeo can justly be accused of having failed to protect its citizens from “Phantoms” and “Talibans” alike, the former being a response to the latter.
In the end, a ruler must be judged not by the monuments he built, his generosity or by his failure to secure the State. What is lost can always be recaptured; what was not done can be put right; what was built can always be torn down. The greatness of a ruler is not measured by what he achieved but by rather how fair, just and virtuous was his rule.
This is what makes a leader great. He is great by virtue of his justness and fairness.
Even a reviled political philosopher like Machiavelli was forced to concede that a return to first principles in a country is produced by the simple virtues of one man. “His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.”
Those who wish to be remembered as having done some good for their country would be better advised to rule fairly and justly rather than in seeking to be remembered by “achievements”, things which either fade with time or are surpassed by others.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News