The man has the right, the Vice President doesn’t

May 15, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Say it aint so! Was my first reaction when the word made its way to me. It couldn’t be the Hon Vice President of Guyana saying something along these lines. He has the right to speak to whomever he wishes, on what issue he chooses, and wherever he sees fit. I would defend his right with my all to speak to his idea of truth, and speak his mind in any way that pleases him, no matter how both may conflict with what I think. But he is only due that unconditional right, is empowered to entertain those constitutional options, when speaking as an ordinary citizen, like run of-the-mill Guyanese, such as myself. As a quick aside, and to set the record straight, the VP’s version of truth and standard of ethics almost always pale into the questionable when compared to mine. But in this instance that does not matter at all.
On the other hand, when he wears the weighty mantle of Vice President for Oil, the omnipotent leader with the most significant portfolio for this nation’s present and future, then he not only has a responsibility at all times to the widest audience possible, but a duty to do so. He has the obligation to articulate in the most overt manner, the frankest terms, and to the most statesmanlike degree that he is capable of, how the business of this country is conducted and delivered. This is what he raised his hand for, and took an oath for, to serve the people, in weather fair and foul, and before those who aid and abet his wordplays and gamesmanships. It is not as it pleases him, or whenever and however he feels like. The mere fact that he holds that high office means that he directly or indirectly swore allegiance to a modicum of standards, to an immaculate comportment, in his stewardship of the vast responsibilities placed in his hands.
I must say it: He is no longer his own man. And I have still harsher news for the Hon Vice President, he is not a private citizen anymore, and some of the rights which he arrogates to himself under that banner become subsumed under the demands of the wider interest, the greater good. He knows that, and doesn’t need me to enlighten him on the sum of what he represents now. It is, therefore, unbecoming of the public man and the public office enshrined in him to skulk away to the media dives that have found favour with him to make a spectacle of himself.
A national leader with any iota of self-esteem within doesn’t ever resort to such self-serving exercises to get his messages across. A leader of substance, one of sturdier stock, would recoil from the mere thought of the latest public self-denuding and self-humiliation of himself, as the VP did. I cannot begin to imagine how he believes that such a sneaky step does him or his message or his work any justice, gives it a pass. It is beyond me to figure out how the VP, a man once a President, would conclude that the depths to which he lowered himself could pass muster, may be justified. The Hon VP has had countless low points, but this ranks right down there. He cannot and should not have exercised such poor judgment and taste, with this right that he seizes for himself. It is not his to claim. Not while he is performing in the capacity of a national leader with an incalculable portfolio. It just cannot be justified. By his own hand, the words of his lips, he condemns himself.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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