Pres. Ali is his own public address system

May 21, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

(Kaieteur News) – Guyanese know that Pres. Ali is prone to verbal excess. A standard not likely to be reversed. Citizens who had contact with him, actually heard him, have had orchestra seats to his blasts of the artificial (solemn promises to the grieving hurt by State agents). Plus, his zeal for exaggeration (the PPP is the most transparent government of all, and liberal use of “world-class”). And, to bring this to a merciful end, his love of the trackless boundaryless (One Guyana). A man so in love with misplaced exuberance that he is his own public address system. A locomotive running on jet fuel.

But there’s another side to Excellency Ali. Frankly, the man represents what’s new in geometry: a freshly discovered polygon of which the sides are still being counted, a work-in-progress. He is of many sides. They never connect to complete a figure of substance, of authority, of credibility. The unspoken of, largely undetected, side of the gift of the gods to Guyana’s presidency is how seriously he takes himself. The cloak of infallibility in which he wraps his pronouncements. If he were Roman Catholic, he would be in the running for pope. When Dr. Ali takes it upon himself, actually condescends, to speak to the Guyanese people, he doesn’t communicate. He talks down and hands down, as God Almighty did on Mount Sinai to Moses for the benefit of the liberated Israelites. With concentrated effort and brow, the results of long practice before a mirror, President Ali does not merely inform the nation. His style is to give the appearance of a coronation and a consecration. Lesser mortals may be content with a ribbon to emphasize the special nature of the moment. The president’s standard is now to create a halo to garland his words, a strong dose of the impeccable to ornament his postures.

I have long wondered after consultation with different sacred books about what could be among the ingredients of the Day of Last Judgment. Or, what Jesus would say in his Second Coming. For a rehearsal on what to expect, I recommend giving Pres. Ali a listening. For those who shudder at the thought, then try the next best substitute: pause momentarily, then give him a reading. The words just leap straight out from newspaper page, from social media post. It is of a shrewd political practitioner, a leader, who is of the belief that he persuades by the sheer volume and weight of his expositions. In sum, a man who doesn’t think of himself as God anymore. Good, but nowhere good enough. His now settled preference is to be as one who looks at his reflection and assures himself that he sees God, and that others see the same in him. This is how much the presidency has gone to his head, taken full control of it. He has convinced himself that Guyana is better for him being in that unprecedented, unmatchable state.

More often than not, when I listen to Pres. Ali in full flight with sacred trust, sacred rights, and sacred duty, I draw uncomfortably close to weeping at the fate that has befallen the language. In forcing myself to think of democracy in the hands, within the mind, of Excellency Ali, the hope, the wish, is that surely Guyana has a brighter and better tree, sturdy and true, on which to hang its ideals and laurels. His practices travel considerable distances in explaining the lack of equilibrium in Guyana’s key institutions, the fouls inflicted on its constitution. The tragedy is that this is how the uncaring, unknowing, masses are moved. The wags have their day. Pres Ali persists with his way: the psychology of cheers that drowns out fears. He cuts a defining figure, one all alone on his own lunar landscape. Watch him, listen to him. Oh, pray for him.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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GHK Lall, PPP, President Ali, public address

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