Granger and Nagamootoo lack self-confidence

Jul 17, 2018 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

There are seven billion people who inhabit Planet Earth. Billions among them are parents. I am saying without fear of contradiction, a majority of parents by an imposition of nature instruct their offspring to have self-confidence. We all tell our children not to feel they are worthless, believe in themselves, and have confidence that they can overcome odds, successfully pursue the things they desire and not be intimidated by bad-mouthing.
Allow me to get personal and forgive my little output of chauvinism. If there is any value I have asked my daughter, my only child to embody is self-confidence. You cannot be successful in what you do unless you possess or want to possess self-confidence. Many years ago, Ohio University enumerated the leadership qualities that must be present in a ruler. There are eleven of them. When I taught philosophy at UG and we looked at Plato’s “The Republic” and his “philosophy king” class, I would make sure my students were familiar with the Ohio University classification.
Of those eleven features, “self-confidence” was ranked high and for reasons that are obvious. There are ongoing discussions that will go on until President Granger demits, about the paucity of his press conferences. In modern politics, Presidents and Prime Ministers hold regular press conferences. In a country that is complex and where the mind is hard pressed to endure the daily vortex of occurrences, one would expect that after three years and two months in office President Granger would have held more than two press briefings. Let me be unambiguous in my position – such a state of politics is completely unacceptable in modern times.
When pressed about this reluctance to face the press, Mr. Granger jeopardized his credibility by saying he is always available to journalists. Surely that could constitute an insult to the nation. Mr. Granger has an obligation to adhere to state protocol and leadership protocol and hold press conferences. That has no connection to his attitude that he is available to speak with the press if the media so desire. The two are not related. Why this attitude of both Granger and Nagamootoo? Both men have different reasons for not wanting to have regular press briefings. Mr. Granger is brand new to politics and brand new to PNC politics. He is finding his way. He knows Guyana is a difficult country to govern. He knows the territory is scattered with land mines. What he does then is avoid landing on any mines and one way to do that is to avoid the press.
But there is a downside to this approach. Once a leader is assured he/she is doing the right thing, is convinced that he/she has the answers and is aware that silence will encourage rumours, he/she will face the press. It is called self-confidence. You may not like Donald Trump but you have to be dishonest to accuse him of lack of self-confidence. Trump is a businessman who sees things in dollars and cents. Armed with that conviction, he will stand his ground on criticizing America’s allies.
The role of self-confidence doesn’t mean the leader is right, but self-confidence builds your courage to protect your leadership. After facing the nation and saying the wrong things with the possession of self-confidence, you will eventually get it right. That is the priceless role of self-confidence in leadership. I think Mr. Granger is afraid that he gets tripped up and bruises his credibility. His thinking is that ‘I will not find myself in hot water because I am not going in the kitchen’. Guyana is a graveyard for countless ambitious politicians and Mr. Granger feels he has to be extremely cautious. I think he has taken that extremity to even further extreme limits.
In the case of Nagamootoo, he lives in moral fear of the media, because he has been running since May 2015 after the creation of the ministry of the presidency. Don’t take my word for it. Please go to the July 2015 edition of the gazette and look at the jurisdictions of each minister after their portfolios were identified. There are four areas for the Prime Minister as against eighteen for the Minister of the Presidency.
So annoyed were the AFC leaders of the downsizing of the PM’s range of authority that the AFC held a retreat two years ago at the Convention Centre and issued an official press release asking for a reduction in the portfolios of Minister Joe Harmon. APNU refused to budge. Any schoolboy if asked who has more power after the President would say Minister Harmon. Nagamootoo lives in mortal fear that the press is waiting to pounce on him.

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Granger and Nagamootoo lack self-confidence

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