I once wrote of a dream that Guyana would have a permanent Presidential Forum, with all former Presidents constituting an Advisory Board which meets at least once per year with the present President, but which can also meet periodically during the year by itself.
Presidents have unique experiences, each facing their own moments of opportunity and crisis. Meeting among themselves, sharing their experiences, and putting what they learnt into the well-being of our country can only be a good thing.
In this regard, His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali must be commended for extending an invitation to all the former Presidents to have a discussion. Each President has something to contribute, and meeting among themselves as former Presidents with the present President, without party executives being present, provide a unique forum for cooperation, for exploring ideas, and for the former Presidents to lend a guiding perspective to the present President. This can only be a positive development for our country. Maybe this initiative will not bring all the positive results we expect and hope for; maybe nothing would really come out of such a meeting; but, surely, there is absolutely no downside to such an initiative. This meeting, therefore, should signal hope.
As expected, the usual suspects have come out with their poison swords brandishing. For example, Dr. David Hinds has deemed the initiative a waste of time, just a meaningless photo-opportunity. Will there be a glorious chance of a good photo-opportunity out of this? You will have to be a fool not to think that this is truly fertile ground for a positive photo opportunity. That, in itself – the chance to see all past and present Presidents in one place, holding hands, talking together – is a grand example for our people to see our leaders showing solidarity and unity. Even if this first meeting is a social gathering, the Guyanese people can only be inspired by seeing their Presidents, former and present from both sides of the political divide, together. That some, like David Hinds, would see only negative vibes is only because they never want to see anything positive about Guyana.
Some, including Dr. Hinds, have expressed that there is unfairness in such a meeting, since three of the four past Presidents – Bharrat Jagdeo, Samuel Hinds and Donald Ramotar – are former Presidents from the PPP, and only former President David Granger is from the PNC. But the point of Presidents, former and present, meeting is for Presidents to meet, not political parties. Their perspectives will be from their position as former Presidents meeting the present President, not political opponents.
There are those who will argue, not without justification, that any such meeting will see these men recoiling into their political corners. That possibility exists, and is real; but it is also equally possible that these wise men will play a more patriotic role, and see themselves as Guyanese leaders who served as Presidents of their country and their people.
In the present circumstances, such a meeting has another advantage – it allows political opponents to put aside the acrimonious relations that enveloped our country during the ill-advised five months of one political group trying to derail the democratic process in Guyana. Instead of meeting as political stakeholders, the meeting of Presidents brings together men who have each served as the Head of State, with obligations to all citizens of Guyana, not just the citizens who supported one or the other political party.
The present conundrum of our democracy, wherein the Government and the Opposition have not found common ground on which to dialogue because the Opposition refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Government, cannot be sustained. President Ali has presented an opportunity to start the political reconciliation. The meeting between the former and present Presidents can pave the way forward to wider dialogue, with the former Presidents influencing their political parties to dialogue rather than to move further away from the central line of respect and dialogue.
President Ali’s bold initiative, visionary initiative, bolsters the opportunity for forging real unity in our country. Guyana is firmly on the road to a new economy, with oil-and-gas being a major player. Guyana has a chance of acquiring mega-investments in areas outside of oil-and-gas; continued political polarisation can only deepen division among our people precisely at a time when Guyanese should be united in the face of the influx of massive international investment. This investment is coming with or without Guyanese unity, but a united Guyana would allow our country to take full advantage of the new investments, and would allow our people to benefit from these investments.
A divided Guyana would permit the international investors to take away the wealth and benefits that our new economy can provide.
Every Guyanese, no matter what our political affiliation is, no matter where we live, no matter what our religion or ethnicity is, must find hope and inspiration in the meeting of the Presidents. I, for one, am inspired, hopeful and prayerful. I will pray our leaders are able to find a way to lead the unity movement in our country. We pray that our youthful President and his predecessors can together inspire our people to unite.
