Facebook Live

Feb 17, 2026 Editorial, News

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(Kaieteur News) – President Irfaan Ali has not held a single news conference since being reelected for a second term. His preferred forum to discuss matters of the State is on Facebook. During the week of the budget debates, he held a series of early-morning Facebook monologues, which have become a defining feature of his presidency and a troubling symbol of how far executive accountability has eroded in Guyana. Almost daily, before the nation was fully awake, the President appeared on Facebook Live to defend his government’s policies, trumpet achievements and vigorously justified a staggering $1.5 trillion national budget.

It was a curious spectacle: a Head of State acting as his own chief propagandist, speaking at the public rather than answering to it. What was most striking is not that the President communicated with citizens, no one disputed the value of modern platform, but that he did so while refusing to engage in the most basic democratic exercise: the press conference. At a time when public spending has ballooned, oil revenues are reshaping the economy and serious questions abound about transparency, procurement, and priorities, President Ali has chosen monologue over interrogation. Facebook Live offers applause, hearts, and carefully curated comments. A press conference offers none of that comfort.

By repeatedly taking it upon himself to defend the budget line by line, the President also sends an unflattering message about his own government. One is left to wonder whether his ministers and Members of Parliament were incapable of prosecuting the case for the budget during parliamentary debates. If they are doing their job, why does the President feel compelled to intervene daily, as if Parliament were a mere sideshow? And if they are not, why are they still entrusted with such enormous responsibility?

More troubling is the pattern of avoidance. When President Ali does submit to questioning, it is rarely before independent, probing journalists. Instead, he appears before schoolchildren, who deserve education, not political theatre or before a chorus of friendly faces who pass as journalists but ask little more than flattering, pre-approved questions. This is not engagement; it is choreography. It is governance conducted in a safe space, insulated from dissent, contradiction and discomfort.

A democracy cannot function on such terms. The role of the press is not to applaud but to interrogate, to clarify and to challenge power on behalf of the public. By refusing to hold regular news conferences, the President denies citizens the opportunity to hear unscripted answers to pressing national concerns. He also denies journalists the chance to follow up, to press inconsistencies and to demand accountability. Facebook Live, for all its reach, allows none of this. The President controls the camera, the timing, the message and when necessary, the mute button.

The irony is that this government often boasts about transparency and inclusion. Yet transparency does not mean speaking endlessly; it means answering questions you would rather avoid. Inclusion does not mean broadcasting from on high; it means standing in the full glare of public scrutiny. A confident leader welcomes hard questions because they provide an opportunity to persuade, to explain and where necessary to correct course.

The $1.5 trillion budget is not a trivial matter. It represents the largest allocation of public funds in Guyana’s history, financed in large part by oil revenues that belong to both present and future generations. Such a budget demands rigorous, open examination. It demands that the President himself be willing to explain priorities, defend choices, and respond to criticism, not in bite-sized social media speeches, but in real time before independent journalists.

There is also a deeper issue at stake. Governance by Facebook risks reducing politics to performance. It encourages personality over process, optics over institutions. Parliament becomes less relevant. The press becomes optional. Citizens are invited to listen, not to question. This is a dangerous trajectory for a young democracy navigating sudden wealth and immense expectations.

No one is asking the President to abandon social media. But social media must supplement, not replace, democratic accountability. A president who truly believes in his stewardship does not fear the press conference. He does not outsource scrutiny to a comment section. He does not confuse likes with legitimacy. Leadership is tested not in controlled monologues, but in open forums where tough questions are asked and real answers are required. Until President Irfaan Ali is prepared to step out from behind Facebook Live and face the nation’s independent journalists, his morning broadcasts will remain what they increasingly appear to be: a polished performance designed to avoid the very accountability, which democracy demands.

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• budget, Editorial, Facebook live, Irfaan Ali

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