President Ali must stop treating democratic oversight as a personal attack

Nov 22, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

President Irfaan Ali’s response to the European Union’s report on the 2025 General and Regional Elections once again exposes a deeply worrying pattern in his leadership style, one that Guyanese can no longer afford to ignore.

The fact is this: President Ali has demonstrated time and again that he has a serious issue with anyone who dares to question him, challenge him, or highlight weaknesses in his administration. It has now reached the point where it appears reflexive. Every time an individual or reputable institution raises legitimate concerns, the President’s first instinct is not to meaningfully engage, clarify, or correct but to attack, discredit, and malign.

In his rebuttal to the EU report, this troubling behavior was on full display. Rather than addressing the substance of the findings, President Ali opted to undermine the credibility of the report by attacking the hiring practices of the EU itself. According to him, the local professionals contracted by the EU were biased and politically aligned against the government. In essence, he insinuated that their political views, real or imagined, invalidated their professional work.

But the President’s message goes far deeper, and it is far more dangerous.

What President Ali is indirectly saying is that professionals who hold independent views, who are not aligned with his administration, or who dare to point out institutional flaws should not be hired by foreign bodies or reputable organizations. He is subtly suggesting that anyone who critiques the government is an enemy of the state, unfit for professional engagement, and motivated by partisan malice.

This is not leadership. This is intimidation dressed up as governance.

President Ali’s ongoing disregard and disrespect for professionals, whether journalists, auditors, evaluators, civil society advocates, or international observers, is becoming not just distasteful but embarrassing. It demeans the office he holds, undermines the democratic culture of our nation, and signals a dangerous drift toward a “my-way-or-the-highway” presidency.

We have seen this behavior repeatedly: his frequent clashes with media practitioners, his dismissive remarks about Transparency International, his attempts to delegitimize reports that expose inefficiencies or wrongdoing, and his persistent portrayal of critics as politically motivated saboteurs.

If this is how the President conducts himself now, one can only imagine how much more entrenched and pervasive these tendencies may become throughout his second and constitutionally final term in office.

Our democracy cannot function when criticism is treated as hostility, when accountability is framed as sabotage, and when professional independence is equated with political opposition. A confident leader welcomes scrutiny, responds to criticism with facts, not insults and proves his detractors wrong through transparency, strong governance, and steady performance.

It is time for President Ali to stop treating democratic oversight as a personal attack. Instead of deflecting through disrespect and discrediting tactics, he should confront criticism with maturity, demonstrate the strength of his leadership, and show Guyana and the world that he is capable of turning critique into improvement rather than conflict.

Regards
Clayon F. Halley

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