Old heads, old hats

Sep 23, 2025 Editorial, News

Kaieteur News – The PPPC says it has seven new faces in its slate of ministers. Considering that the elections results gave the ruling party three more seats, a case could be made that the new PPPC Government is almost identical to the old PPPC Government. Most of the old heads are back, most of the old faces are still around, and all those old hats could be in for another five years of enjoying life from the nation’s oil wealth, and to the detriment of citizens. President Irfaan Ali is putting in double the effort to convince Guyanese that things will be different, that the ministers are on a short leash, and that his own fuse is short on patience.

“The new cabinet today has been put on notice that… This government is not about power and I want to make that very clear.” The president is clear, but did his new group of ministers, most of them from the old set, hear him? He didn’t watch them enough, or they didn’t bother to listen to him the last time. So, what will be different this time, notwithstanding the powerful speeches from the president? President Ali’s own words give a clue, and in the manner of clues, they often lead up a false trail.

“…that mission and the plans we advance are what we want to achieve as a people together in this country, and tonight, I ask you to applaud them. I want all of them to know that whilst tonight is a representation of one aspect of government, their work is the hard piece, the foundation and strength, upon which we stand, and we will continue to be part of this journey of transformation. And they will be the foundation of transformation that lies ahead of us.” Guyanese may like what they hear from their president, but the first question is whether he ever actually pauses and reflects, by listening to himself?

There is no president in the history of this country who has promised as much as President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and who has delivered less than President Irfaan Ali. What does that confirm, other than that he and his people are winners at crafting fine, flowing speeches, but losers in breathing life into them. After his first inauguration, it was the same President Ali who promised to “review and renegotiate” all government contracts. He them promptly changed his mind, lost sight of his words, and came to a halt with “sanctity of contract”, as his basis for not lifting a finger against the reprehensible 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract. If on the most promising, the most potentially enriching, development in Guyana, the president balked, then what can he be trusted on to deliver? There were other areas in which he failed to be true to his commitments to citizens.

He promised transparency, but presided over an Office of the Commissioner of Access to Information that was a sleeping dog, and a running joke. Virtually no access to information is the president’s idea of transparency. He also promised five years ago, that there will be accountability, only to deliver a kind where there is almost zero accounting to taxpayers. Debt ceiling raised, more loans taken, oil money withdrawn, and all that Guyanese receive is conveyed in the blur of “national development priorities.” It seems that that is less about the people’s business, and more about the priorities of party politics. The Wales gas-to-energy project is US$2B and climbing, and it is all haze and spin about taxpayer dollars that are spent. Smoke and mirrors are the president’s version of accountability.

Next, there is unity, as he promised, but which has left Guyanese more torn and divided than they have ever been. Millions upon millions, adding up to the billions, are captured by the PPPC Government’s cabals and cronies, while many Guyanese starve and limp through their days. We don’t know how such standards, attitudes, and actions inspire those who are left out to a place of harmony and unity. But here is President Ali, flush with victory, and making sweet speeches. He pushes his ministers in the right direction, and he could look better. He hesitates, and he is lost.

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Editorial, Elections, Old heads, PPPC, Transparency

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