OPINION: Mohameds, President Ali, Opposition Leader Norton: let truth shine through

Last Updated on Sunday, 23 June 2024, 10:52 by Writer

BY GHK Lall

I hear some good words, absorb some good moves. May the good in all its pristine qualities result.

First, Mr. Nazar Mohamed of grim OFAC developments resigned as PPP Councilor for the Eccles/Ramsburg area. It is a good early move. Second, President Irfaan Ali says not compromised by association with the Mohameds. That is also good, if not a still better announcement. Third, PNC elders and its youth arm are set to probe allegations against Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton. This gets better and better. It is said that the proof is in the pudding. In each of the three instances identified, what I term as a ‘good’ development must be accompanied by only one kind of pudding: that which has substance. Proof that pulls no punches, what is unsparing. Proof that is powerful because it has compelling vitality. Proof that does not shrink from travelling on dangerous roads and wherever they lead, regardless of negatives for wither the persons named, or the groups to which they are closely affiliated. It would be proof that does not disguise what may or may not have taken place. Proof that does not dimmish its essence, regardless of who is involved, and notwithstanding the national consequences. I begin with the president.

Excellency Ali says that he is not compromised by association with the besieged father and son. It is good to the ear, warming soup for the soul. I assure everyone that no judgments are made here. But there is a caveat. This holds only insofar as the fullness of facts and circumstances are explored, can be substantiated either way. After all, what’s the harm to the president, he has his protections. The Guyanese duo under relentless scrutiny is not addressed today; the president, however, is due the courtesy and the space of the benefit of the doubt, but only as the trail of this particular relationship is thoroughly scrutinized, openly ventilated. Good words must be twinned with good eyesight to clear and convincing efforts to free the president of any taint by association. Or to raise concerns that point to him faltering because there are unexplained gaps in his representations. We all must recognize that President Ali is on thin ice in this situation. If all other Guyanese shiver from doing so, not I. I do.

So also, is Opposition Leader Norton who has his own boat that he must bail himself out of, and pronto. Like the president, Mr. Norton is entitled to his protections, his rights as citizen in a Republic that asserts its fidelity to law and order and human rights. By the same standard, so too is the alleged victim, Ms. Vanessa Kissoon. Her story does not reek of the frivolous and must be taken with the utmost seriousness. But seriousness is only the beginning, and I laud the PNC elders and youth presences for their initiative, which just had to be. That is, to get to the bottom of a terribly embarrassing and distressing situation. Seriousness is the precursor; it must be the father of genuineness. What is a probe worth its claim to such a name, if it has a scant to sickening (‘suck-teeth’) relationship to genuineness. Whatever the scope of the probe that it launched, it must have depth, what searches for truth and fairness in a country that has made lepers of both, a mockery of such inconveniences. There is some hurt to both parties in this capsizing development; severe damage has already been done to Mr. Norton, if none other. Truth and fairness may (may) undo some of what has taken on the elements of frenzy and caprice, the usual Guyana madness. This society is not a society of merit, will never be. That is, unless it can demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is capable of dealing forthrightly with its ills, regardless of who is involved, notwithstanding the pain that ensues. We are either for what is right and of the cleaning power of justness, or we are nothing but the follies and the farces that keep political parties, their leaders, and their fundamentalists afloat. President Ali has made his claim; the PNC has staked out its ground (elders and youths). The sword of truth will shear them of what is perceived to be unacceptable because it is improper. If not, then that same sword will savage them both. We must show the world that there are the consensus and those who pay authentic homage to law, respect for the high offices held, respect for the dignity of others and the trust that they vest, and respect for standards that the law-abiding would uphold.

In terms of the Mohameds, the resignation is a step in the right direction. Now, their defense must be ringing and convincing. Because, if it is not, then the wrath of the times could scorch them. There must be the recollection that prosperous interludes draw a crowd. And that in the dark hour of impoverishment, there is that dawning reality of new orphans aborning. I extend my best wishes to all these Guyanese named, and the endeavors of others to locate whatever residual sanity exists in this society.