The VP is exemplary in that he is the closest thing in Guyana to absolute power

Aug 28, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

A well-meaning Guyanese recommended that the Vice President (VP) walk away and enjoy the fruits of his labour. They are plentiful; mainly forbidden too. But I think of that helpful effort from an unknown Guyanese, and reflect on my own energies with those on the street since my return. Not one real success. I have also extended my unsolicited advice to the VP, and confess to total failure. The problem is not with thoughtful Guyanese, but the VP himself: too settled in his twilight zone, and helplessly committed to what drags Guyana deeper and deeper into the dark side.

The VP is not the head of state, but the state under the PPP Government is headless without him. Indeed, he has woven his web well, and traps all his people, including any officially above him. It is not his charms or intellect or profoundness, which are all questionable. It is his continuing bottomless cunning, scheming, and maneuvering. All of them owe him, and he has them where he wants them. In a few words, weakened and compromised. I have always regretted that the energies and visions that the VP brought to bear were at a certain level (low), in a particular direction (unwholesome), and of a special quality (unmentionable). To put in stark terms, which most Guyanese can understand, the VP has exceeded the worst of Burnham’s excesses, and that takes some doing. Sometimes I wonder who taught whom; which one is the sharper hustler.

Editor, I share this. Before the PPP’s August 2020 return to power, a known local medicine man said that the VP is a changed man. I didn’t smirk or laugh in his face, but I pushed back, and said that, clearly, he was a babe in the study of what makes for political perversity and leadership agility. The doctor informed that lots of youthful faces would be around, and would hold the VP in check, and bring about change. I doubled over in disbelief as convulsions of laughter overtook there and then, for it was another version of ‘dis time nah lang time.’ Anyhow, this is how I saw that at the time.

Like the national leader, we certainly do have young people around, but not for the objectives most envision, or applaud naively, loyally, even foolishly. The young were and are recruited because they know nothing, represent nothing, can lay claim to nothing of substance. For when studied carefully, the battalion of youthful faces are clueless, helpless and, hence, useless. They are ill-equipped to serve as any formidable bulwark of checks and balances, or as barometers of conscience and convictions. They are part of the ride, compliments of the VP, and they are just glad to be along for the sweet rewards along the way. Nobody is going to jeopardise that, and that is without massaging in the racial element, or party rabidity sickness that infects all Guyanese. When all this is considered, the VP obviously has manifested in the richest colours that he is a schemer of schemers, a master operator, who is head and shoulders above his contemporaries. I prefer to say his wiles and guiles can’t be beaten.

He is fixer, pawnbroker, and collector. Everybody owes him huge debts, which is what passes for leadership and governance in Guyana. I often say that we are a parallel to North Korea, with allegiance to the VP acing loyalty to the State. In Guyana, the official existence of young and old, and black and brown, are all a direct result of the hand and wand of the VP. I am hard-pressed to appreciate who would walk away from such constant surges of power, control, and what brings the ultimate in gratification, over and over again. When there is no god (but money), no spirituality (money again), no ideology (still more money), no true family (only currency), then that stands for the most compelling underpinning for staying and celebrating. It is more than adrenaline rush, or sexual or substance high, it is the nectar and ambrosia of power. In Guyana, the VP is exemplary in that he is the closest thing that there is to absolute power. Now, who is going to distance self from that, leave all of that behind? Certainly, not the mighty VP. My issue is that, as monstrous as he is, I prefer that he is present where I can observe his antics and acrobatics. It is better to have him in plain sight than he decides to go underground, for from there, he would be infinitely more dangerous to Guyana, just like he is as VP.

Sincerely,

GHK Lall

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