Guyana’s Vice President – a figure skater and flimflam artist in motion

May 27, 2023 News, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall…

Kaieteur News – It is always a source of entertainment to observe Guyana’s Vice President, the Hon. Dr. Bharat Jagdeo, in action.  If it were not for the serious underlying issues involved, I could be amused, maybe even impressed.  But when I observe the political figure skater that he has become, and the flimflam man that he is now all about, there is less that is about laughter, and more distaste about what he puts before Guyanese and expect them to swallow barbed hook, twisted line, and confirmed stinker.

My brother, this peculiar Guyanese leader, Dr. Jagdeo, is adamant that political donors could be subject to damaging boycotts by those who are infuriated by their cash donations, and who are the beneficiaries of them.  On the surface, it does not even qualify for good theater, so absent of substance that is (boycotts) and such a fallacy that is when examined.  My first question is who is going to boycott whom?  The second is who is going to stand around and allow that to gain traction, spiral into the undesired, the possibly uncontrolled?  The third is where would, could, such targeting and boycotting lead, other than to the usual petering out into the murk of oblivion?

To begin with, the reality of today’s Guyana, is that there is only one segment of the Guyanese population that has spending power, standing power, and staying power.  They are the shoppers and buyers and thrivers in present Guyanese society.  Need I say more?  Okay, I will.  They do not belong to the ranks of PNC street agitators; nor any others from among the barren ranks that are (or pretend that they are) about what is at odds with the PPP Government, PPP interests, PPP businesspeople, PPP skullduggeries.  Even those who sometimes assert that they are not so much in favour of the PPP Government, its leading manipulators (pick a name, a good one) are mostly, and usually, keeping one eye open for opportunities to make themselves right, and one ear cocked for any whispers that could indicate good things for those who have the good sense to see how and where and whom the winds of goodness blow.

By process of elimination, or calculated individual conversion, there are few, if anybody left to boycott any identified political donor.  They couldn’t even stand and boycott if Christmas Day were to be banned.  So, I urge Guyanese to get real with this latest clever orchestration from the Hon. Vice President about publicizing the names of political donors could trigger targeting and boycotting.  Dr. Jagdeo’s three-legged trick pony just lost another unstable ankle.  He is openly running his own witness (donor) protection programme.

Next, for purposes of this conversation, I suspend prior contrarian stances, and encourage citizens to visualize a boycott in action, such as it is.  The people boycotted could be among those with the most reach in this society.  They make a call to Freedom House, and a house falls upon the sorry heads of any boycotters in the blink of an eye.  The same law enforcement apparatus that can be so, er, slothful when government relationships are involved, would be a roaring lion of bustle and hustle should any elements in the local environment decide to target those who gave money (nice, sweet, unlimited cash) to the PPP Government.  Any human obstacles making fools of themselves would be sent scurrying for cover, and made to see the error of their ways.  Disturbing the peace, obstructing lawful commerce, creating a public nuisance, unlawful assembly, or whatever the Hon. Attorney General decides is the legal flavour that suits the moment.

To emphasize the frailty and fallacy of the erudite Dr. Jagdeo’s porous pawing at spirits conceived for his own slippery constructs, who in the Guyana Police Force would be so thoughtless as to issue any permit for such gatherings?  Even if one were not required due to the low-level and nonthreatening nature of such boycotts, it would be, if only to signal official displeasure (meaning Dr. Jagdeo’s) at any boycott contemplated.  Here is another substance (legitimate, I assure everyone) for Guyanese pipes: the PNC also gets funding from some of the same donors as the PPP, so it is somewhat on the shaky side to believe that it would actually step on such a visible and viable tetanus nail.  Again, my good brother, Dr. Jagdeo, the figure skater is reduced to the collapsible, when he comes up with these flimsy and fleecy verbal planks.  I suggest that he considers doing what Long John Silver or Sir Henry Morgan would have recommended of their errant fellows.  That is, walk the planks that he erects for Guyanese.

I am still suspending reason and ponder a boycott of political donors in action.  To what purpose and for how long?  If it is to expose, nobody cares in Guyana.  Guyanese are more concerned about KFC and Burger King than they are about their oil magnificence.  So, it is a non-starter for the Brilliantine Dr. Jagdeo to even trouble his glittering noggin about where publicizing campaign finance donors could lead.  In a word: nowhere.

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