When cricket and politics merge into a clownish act of desperation

May 08, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Under President Burnham, Guyana was looked down upon by its Caribbean neighbours. The essential reason was the economic collapse that manifested itself in ugly ways. Two such features encouraged Caribbean citizens to laugh at us.
First, there was a massive trail of illegal Guyanese immigrants into the islands. Secondly, food shortage created an overnight birth of small traders whose behaviour on the airlines and at Caribbean airports was abhorrent.
Not much has changed since 1985 when President Burnham died. Caribbean people still laugh at us, because they have a permanent conceptualization of us that we are the permanent sick man in the Caribbean family. In academic circles in the region, Guyana is seen as a place of tragedy in a Russian novel on life’s pessimism.
Two years ago, the current Jamaican PM called Guyana an international beggar, an image that was made into a terrible picture when President Jagdeo was seen in the international press, and on television worldwide, berating the Norwegian Prime Minister for not paying monies he promised.
What was shameful was the Nordic response – we need to have guarantee of transparency in the spending of the funds before we give it to you.
Illegal migration to the Caribbean continues unabated. Under the deceased Barbadian PM, Thompson, Guyanese were literally rounded up for deportation. Little St. Maarten just slapped visa requirements on us.
In media circles in the CARICOM region, Mr. Jagdeo is known as the cuss-down President. The ridicule and laughs continue. President Jagdeo’s de facto political affairs advisor, Randy Persaud, was seen handcuffed by NY police and later charged.
Now we have the spectacle of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and President Jagdeo picketing outside the National Stadium. The whole episode was stupid and embarrassing. Which leader of a country will mount a picket to demand that a sports player be selected? Has it happened before? Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think so. Barbadian fans boycotted a Test match in 1992 because they felt one of their fast bowlers, Anderson Cummins, was unfairly left out. The “Bajan” PM wasn’t seen with a placard in front of the ground.
In the case of Chanderpaul, Guyanese didn’t go that route since the stands were packed to capacity. Maybe after seeing the size of the attendance, Chanderpaul and Jagdeo decided that they would do their picket thing. One is utterly bamboozled that Jagdeo can engage in a picket exercise.
He once told striking air-traffic controllers that if they had greeted him with pickets after he touched down from New York, he would have fired them. Maybe Chanderpaul should get a taste of the Jagdeo treatment from the West Indian Cricket Board – since you picket us then we will drop you from the team in the future.
Somebody advised Chanderpaul wrongly. They told him that President Burnham made Clive Lloyd’s career after he was dropped. Burnham’s Government paid the ticket for Lloyd to return to Guyana so that he could be available for selection. The rest is now history. Chanderpaul should know a little bit about history.
First, Clive Lloyd was in the early years of his career when President Burnham stepped in, Chanderpaul is at the end of his. Secondly, President Forbes Burnham was a towering figure in Caribbean politics and the WI Cricket Board bowed to him. Jagdeo could never achieve that respect in the wider Caribbean.
The two men are trying to use each other, but Chanderpaul will be the loser. Jagdeo is in an election campaign so he sought political mileage by going into certain sections of the stand with Chanderpaul to greet fans. This explains why Minister Anthony wrote two letters to the WI Board with his lamentation of why Chanderpaul and Sarwan were dropped.
Chanderpaul on the other hand believes that a CARICOM Head could put some pressure on the Board to have him reinstated.
In international football, FIFA does not tolerate political interference. It should be the same with cricket. The Board should treat President Jagdeo’s picket the way it deserves to be seen – as an act of asininity. West Indian cricket is bigger than Chanderpaul who is nearing retirement and Jagdeo who is about to retire from the presidency.
In the meantime, Jagdeo could offer Chanderpaul a place on the PPP’s electoral list and Minister Frank Anthony could see that CARIFESTA workers who are still owed their money be paid.
For the record, Chanderpaul has made his way back into a West Indies squad.

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When cricket and politics merge into a clownish act of desperation

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