Latest update March 21st, 2025 7:03 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

Bad news for President Jagdeo

Oct 30, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The news all around isn’t good for Mr. Jagdeo. We can start with the climate change conference in December in Copenhagen. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Jagdeo was pinning the acquisition of a long sought after legacy on that meeting. It has to do with his championing of low carbon policy.
Mr. Jagdeo will not get his legacy if one follows events that are taking place in important areas of the world. There is still a year left for the President to think of an innovation that will catapult him onto the front cover of Guyanese history.
The failure of Copenhagen will be devastating for Mr. Jagdeo, especially in the realm of the third term for presidency, though I doubt the failure of the climate change confabulation will deter efforts at the third term.
That Copenhagen was in trouble came from the mouth of the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. He openly said last month that enthusiasm for the debate in Scandinavia in December was waning and he will do his best to resuscitate it. Mr. Brown was banking on the presence of President Barack Obama. Now it seems that Mr. Obama’s advisors are quietly telling him to avoid Copenhagen.
Mr. Obama will be going to collect his Nobel Peace Prize but his advisors refused to answer if he will be at Copenhagen.
The Obama dilemma which his advisors have keenly studied is if he can afford another huge international loss after Rio got the Olympics. The thinking is that Mr. Obama is such an international phenomenon to whom the world looks for success and solutions. Therefore, another failure in Copenhagen can dent his global attractiveness which is still high despite the Olympics setback.
The feeling among White House advisors is that Copenhagen will crash and it is best that Mr. Obama does not participate in the fiasco. If Obama is not going (from what I read in the American press, it doesn’t appear he will go), then Gordon Brown may opt out.
Copenhagen isn’t looking good also because the United Nations has also turned down its optimism decibels. Reports coming out of the UN are that there will be no consensus at Copenhagen, thus no treaty in December. That looks like it for Mr. Jagdeo’s legacy.
But even if Copenhagen succeeds by a miracle, Mr. Jagdeo will not get what he has so boldly announced to the nation here. I honestly believe that some expert or (experts) influenced Mr. Jagdeo to think that the world community is dead serious about paying Guyana for low carbon development, resulting in Mr. Jagdeo’s invention of this bandwagon which he has pushed with supersonic speed.
This is a faulty reading of international relations which has never been the forte of Mr. Jagdeo. This kind of generosity that Mr. Jagdeo was (is) banking on does not occur in international relations. Where does Mr. Jagdeo think this money was coming from at a time when the world economy has faltered badly? And who are these munificent nations that will pour literally more than a billion American dollars over a period of time into Guyana for low carbon development?
Mr. Jagdeo will face an ignominious retreat in December and this is because his micro-managing inclinations have again boomeranged on him. Pushing LCDS should not have been a problem and it is not a problem for any Third World country. In Guyana it went wrong because Mr. Jagdeo wrote about it as a global phenomenon that he has captured for the people of Guyana.
Once he adumbrated the mega-success of his project, he couldn’t back down. Working behind the scenes, of course, was his micro-management personality. Even if his advisors warned that he should ease down the ubiquity of his low carbon thoughts, he is the kind of person who would still cling and implement what he feels.
Of course, this is assuming that Mr. Jagdeo’s advisors had the courage to tell him that he should tone down his LCDS decibels
This is a huge dilemma for advisors of autocratic leaders. The leader is so intimidating, so omnipotent, so self-driven that it drives fear in the advisors to say; “Sir, that route is dangerous, try another one.” The life of an autocratic ruler is a sad and tragic one.
As I recalled in one of my articles last month, if Michael Jackson wasn’t so powerful, he might have listened to his friends and would still be alive today. The other bad news for Jagdeo is that the British took back their money for security reform.
More on the reason for this in another column. So at the moment, things aren’t looking good for Guyana’s second Burnham.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 17th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

NSC, Office of the DPP to host Criminal Law and Sexual Offences Act meeting tomorrow

NSC, Office of the DPP to host Criminal Law and Sexual Offences Act...

Mar 21, 2025

Kaieteur Sports– In a proactive move to foster a safer and more responsible sporting environment, the National Sports Commission (NSC), in collaboration with the Office of the Director of...
Read More
Lucas Chung maintains strong standing at 2nd Qualifier

Lucas Chung maintains strong standing at 2nd...

Mar 21, 2025

Farm Supplies Ltd. supports Bartica Regatta 2025

Farm Supplies Ltd. supports Bartica Regatta 2025

Mar 21, 2025

Legislation and Investment: Trinidad to Brazil, Guyana finds new lifeline

Legislation and Investment: Trinidad to Brazil,...

Mar 21, 2025

Three more matches billed for this weekend

Three more matches billed for this weekend

Mar 21, 2025

CM Khan rules at 2025 National Blitz Chess Championships

CM Khan rules at 2025 National Blitz Chess...

Mar 21, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]