Bonfires of the pomposities

Jan 05, 2012 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

If any leader in 2011 displayed hubris, hauteur and was downright pompous to the people over which he ruled, it was President Jagdeo in Guyana. Whatever description we want to use to portray the year just gone by, one should not fail to include the dismissive attitude of this ruler.
Throughout the year, Mr. Jagdeo struck a pompous pose about almost everything. He knew he had one year more, he knew he had absolute power, and he made 2011 the year of the unbridled exercise of power.
What follows below is my analysis of one aspect of life in Guyana 2011. It is done without any resort to personal recriminations or driven by personal animosities. I pen this column because I believe and know that readers all over the world would expect analysts to evaluate the era just gone by. It cannot be possible to look at 2011 and eschew the concatenation of arrogance and insensitivities that characterized the final moments of Mr. Jagdeo’s governorship.
Of course I will write a book, no matter how long it takes. In fact very shortly from now a book will be out from one of Guyana’s most respected and leading citizens. The final chapter paints an unflattering portrait of Bharrat Jagdeo. Because of the standing of the author, this publication is going to engender immense curiosity over the Jagdeo chapter. No book on Guyana’s political economy or sociology or politics in general will miss a few chapters on Mr. Jagdeo.
He will remain one of the many mysteries of this eerie land. I will always remain fascinated as to how Mr. Jagdeo came to rule Guyana and was allowed prodigious latitude to the point that in his final year, the entire land had some amount of fear of him.
Presidents and Prime Ministers normally come from a fairly plausible background of academia, science, law, journalism, business or fame (as in the case of actor Ronald Reagan).
Mr. Jagdeo’s education at the highly obscured (by any standards) Soviet institution, Patrice Lumumba University, was a break with tradition in most countries. Before and after that, he never achieved notice in both the PPP and/or its youth arm, the PYO. I will always remember the words of Roger Luncheon who sat directly facing me in court during the trial of the President’s libel suit against me.
When asked about his knowledge of Mr. Jagdeo, Dr. Luncheon told the packed (it was overflowing on the first day with not even standing room) court that he first heard (not met) of the name Bharrat Jagdeo after the 1992 elections.
Obviously, Dr. Luncheon had to know Jagdeo by then because the former was in charge of the entire public service and the latter was the chief assistant to the Minister of Finance. When he became President, the PPP put out a statement saying that he was the youngest member in the history of its youth arm PYO, joining at fourteen. Yet a top leader like Luncheon (who at one time was seen as Dr. Jagan’s main pick in the PPP) never heard the name Bharrat Jagdeo prior to the month of October 1992 when the PPP won the national elections.
How such a person with this mediocre background came to dominate the presidency for twelve years is a gigantic sore of the historical face of this nation. And he ruled with monarchial style. The occasions were countless but we should look at a few in 2011. First, it is my belief that he said silently to the nation; “I don’t care what you say about Kwame McCoy, I want him in my office.” And McCoy was kept in Jagdeo’s office. Then there was the asininity of pompousness when Mr. Jagdeo violated logic in the most sickening of ways.
He told the nation that open voting is less secret that secret balloting. He was referring to the vote by the PPP’s central committee to choose its presidential candidate. How any mind can reason like this is beyond human comprehension. The most laudable feature of secret ballot is that there is no fear staring at you to frighten you. No one will ever know how your choice was made. In other words, you were allowed complete freedom.
As 2011 drew to a close, Mr. Jagdeo wanted to go down in history in the same league with the President who gave us the 1980 Constitution, Forbes Burnham. He told his election campaign crowds in Lusignan that while he was President, Nigel Hughes will not receive Senior Counsel status, openly telling the nation that as ruler he dominates over all Guyana.

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Bonfires of the pomposities

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