Dear Editor,
In one of his weekly press conferences, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, made several factual statements about presidential hopeful Mr Azruddin Mohamed which, at the time, did not resonate well with a small number of persons who felt that those statements were hate-filled and meant to denigrate the latter. However, as the days progressed, it is now evident that the general secretary’s predictions or conclusions are not without merit and have been laid bare for the world to see the veracity of his utterings.
Dr Jagdeo had said that Azruddin will find it difficult to coherently put two sentences together, and this has played out time and again but markedly on Nomination Day, July 14th. Dr Jagdeo had also dared Azruddin ‘to face the press and answer questions from the press’ and that he was willing to give him his Thursday slot to facilitate that engagement. This was to prove that Azruddin is incapable of answering pertinent questions about his ability to govern this country. This challenge was never taken up, but as fate would dictate, the press did meet with Azruddin on Nomination Day in front of the Umana Yana (symbolic of our national unity), and the frailties of this aspiring Presidential Candidate were laid bare and naked for all Guyanese to witness. The press posed simple and direct questions related to his party’s policies, his party’s priority, the border controversy, his party’s manifesto, his prime ministerial candidate, why Guyanese should vote for a sanctioned person and plans for integrating the energy sector with the Caribbean and Latin America in terms of security and growth. The answers were one-liners: these will materialise and be presented ‘very soon’, ‘soon’, ‘very shortly’, ‘shortly’, ‘maybe’, and ‘I don’t know’. These punctuated the meeting with the press and afforded no definitive answers to what should have been routine answers.
It was evident that Azruddin Mohamed was unprepared, and he had spent little or no time to even think about his party’s policies and probably felt that running a government is all about meeting the people and listening to their ‘concerns’. He probably felt that his ‘rock star’ status was sufficient. It is evident also that his incompetent ‘team’ were incapable of briefing him on what was to be expected when he faced the press. It was also obvious that the Party has not to date formulated any social and economic policies to govern this country. If such were the case, then the answers to the questions asked by the press would have been automatic and effortless. There would have been no incoherence and stumbling. It is no excuse that the focus was on the nomination process and that his party was only 48 days old.
Azruddin claimed that he travelled the ‘length and breadth of Guyana’ and met with ‘tens of thousands’ of people; thus, I am sure that his ambition was not formed within for the past 48 days. He had his plans to contest the 2025 general elections, and for over a year he had been testing ‘the waters’, and he felt that the presidency would spare him from legal penalties and the US sanctions. Therefore, he had more than ample time to articulate some policies, even mentally. It is a shame that all the other approved parties could have said something about their policies, but not the WIN party. Is this how a party is serious about investing in the lives of the Guyanese people? It is pellucid that Azruddin is trying to ‘bluff his way to the presidency’, as was suggested by a reporter.
A Presidential Candidate, among other characteristics, should have a decent track record wherever he worked before, whether in the private or public sector, and should be honest with strong personal ethics and must be law-abiding and have a deep respect for the law, not an OFAC-sanctioned individual. Wisdom, knowledge and experience and strong oratorical skills with a genuine love for his country are what define a good president. Guyanese beware of bluff masters.
