Dear Editor,
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s inauguration on Saturday, August 8, 2020, will be remembered as one the most emotionally packed event in our history if not the most, since it heralded a new era full of hope and aspirations to a nation which has been held hostage for 5 months after the fair and credible 2020 elections would have shown the PPP/C as the winner by a clear majority. It heralded the return of democracy, the rule of law and justice which have been crippled by the many diabolical attempts by Granger and his PNCites to rig the elections and become the next dictatorial ruler of Guyana.
Moreover, it also heralded the advent of a young, dynamic and competent President whose ‘from the heart’ inaugural speech chartered the course of action his Government will embark on to bring Guyana back on the road to progress and prosperity. President Irfaan Ali’s masterly speech was honest and clean and is comprehensively and realistically deliverable and all those who have listened would be not be convinced otherwise. The PPP/C Government has the experience and competence to deliver on its manifesto as highlighted by the President and had taken Guyana in 1992 from utter bankruptcy and devastation back to prosperity. Thanks to Jagan and Jagdeo.
The inauguration itself was without the ostentatious and offensive displays which had characterised that of the previous President and is symbolic of what decency, honest and social cohesiveness should be. It tells a lot about what to expect from the President and his Government.
The President promised unity and stated categorically that, “I promise one and all those who supported me and those who didn’t – that I will be the President for all the people of Guyana, and I will serve each of you with affection, without discrimination and with every attention to fairness and equity…I will not see a nation divided by ethnicity, I will see a nation cemented in unity…every citizen is equal and will be treated equally.” He then outlined the economic and social policies his Government will embark on.
In retrospection, in 2015 the former President Granger had promised, “to banish poverty, ignorance, fear and hatred” and guaranteed that he would be the President of all the people. “I shall be a good President for all the people.” It is now history what he did to the Guyanese people, he made numerous Guyanese beggars, he created fear and divisiveness and his party’s Chairwoman had no qualms in declaring that, “The only friends I got is PNC so the only people I gun give wuk to is PNC…” During the coalition’s tenure in Government, Guyanese saw cronyism and corruption being taken to unprecedented heights and instead of “inclusionary democracy” we saw democracy being ripped to shreds by Granger and his cabal. This resulted in a successful NCM in 2018. Karma is a bitch, they say. In the end, the coalition became the “real enemy” to democracy and Granger’s coalition became the horsemen of Guyana’s apocalypse which he analogised in his 2015 inauguration speech. And instead of 2015 being the “Year of Democratic Renewal” as he claimed, it was the beginning of Guyana’s democratic upheaval. His inauguration speech was hollow and lacked content and it was more politicised than warranted. A complete contrast to President Ali’s 2020 inauguration speech.
Irfaan Ali’s Inauguration ceremony brought tears to many, even to those who saw this great event unfolding in their living room. It marked the culmination of the long and hard battles fought since 2011 when the PPP/C became a minority Government and had to face the growing coalescing between the APNU and the AFC to derail the Government and make the country ungovernable, ‘scissoring’ budget after budget. But the greatest battle began when the coalition was ousted by the No-Confidence Motion in December 2018. The inauguration of President Ali brought finality and relief to democratic people not only locally but across the world. We exhaled at last!
It was a personal war for me which lasted from 2012 to 2020 during which I wrote several hundred letters, hosted several TV programmes, had my life threatened and livelihood taken away, my family traumatised and suffered many personal attacks yet I persevered. I cried unashamedly with relief as I sat with my wife and watched the inauguration. I have achieved my goal. I was called a “rogue AFC Councillor” by Khemraj Ramjattan in 2012 and was expelled from the AFC for speaking the truth. I recalled what I told my attackers in one of my TV programmes quoting the great Mahatma Gandhi, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. Guyanese have won today, let us cherish our democracy and unite our people! With President Irfaan Ali and his Government, we can achieve greatness and dignity!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
