OPINION: The president at the UN: where did everybody go?

Last Updated on Friday, 27 September 2024, 19:28 by Writer

By GHK Lall

There is a growing consensus in Guyana that President Ali is a tiring speaker. So fatiguing is His Excellency that he has perfected the art of putting his listeners to sleep; Dr. Ali would be a godsend around the area where newborn babies are housed. The harried nurses would love him, may even vote for him in 2025. Pay increase or no pay increase. Taking this in stride, it suddenly dawned as to why the president is always carrying on as though he is at a weighing-in ceremony prior to an upcoming boxing contest, or one of the more heavily billed performers in a World Wrestling Federation event. He is acting up, acting out. If any Guyanese has ever heard President Ali speak in normal conversational tones, please drop a line as a favor. But there he was at the United Nations General Assembly, and it was as though a blizzard dumped 30 inches of snow on Manhattan’s East Side. The place was three quarters empty. Did somebody whisper via the social media pony express about the kind of public speaker that Guyana’s president is? And which led to a stampede for the exits, or a deluge of no-shows? Whatever it was, the Office of the President was so proud of how Excellency Ali could clear a room that the-all-but-deserted UN General Assembly was posted publicly. Did the photo takers get the angles all wrong? Maybe many of the foreign delegates preferred the rear to avoid being overpowered by Guyana’s president’s usual stentorian volumes. Some other thoughts followed in quick order.

It’s a fact that delegates are not usually entranced by speakers from the inconsequential countries. With Guyana’s oil bonanza, however, mesmerizing the world, both country and the Comrade Leader are front-page material. The concern is that with oil not even peaking that Guyana’s President Ali has been converted to a footnote. Oil should have more gingers to it.

Currently, it is Indian Summer in the Northeast. The foliage is glorious, the temperature is joyous. It is not the time to give too much time and attention to raucous speakers. When the temps are like that, delegates sneak out for a shopping spree at Bloomingdale’s or Saks Fifth Avenue. They do not offer much via sales, but many of those from corrupt Third World countries, who steal for a living could care less about sale prices and such. It is not their money that is being splurged. Guyana’s head of state should have known better: stay home and deal with cost-of-living pressures that are crushing Guyanese, rather than perpetuate the regular doubletalk about equity. Here is another piece of unsolicited advice for the president and his advisers.

Really, Mr. President, who wants to hear about biodiversity and climate change? Those issues have been jawboned and deboned and honed for years and look at how much progress has been made. Those icebergs are melting faster, while Guyana is boiling at higher and higher temperatures, with oppressive humidity in lockstep. The mettle of a seasoned speaker is best displayed in an appreciation of what stirs an audience, what holds its attention, may even make a few dozen of them rush in from wherever they strayed in search of refuge from the boredom and disconnection. The Palestinians are fighting for more than their lives in Gaza; they are fighting to survive as a people. Massacre, genocide, and holocaust all have their drawing power right there by the dreary East River, Sir Irfaan. Squeeze in a few words on any one of those raging issues, those controversies about what the Israelis are inflicting so barbarously on the Gazans, and it is guaranteed that all those Arabs and Persians who took a walk would hurry back to hang on to President Ali’s every syllable. Who could be a better example of a brother of the faith inspired to speak at high decibels about the fate of the Palestinians in the Gaza catastrophe? What has been the norm in Guyana with President Ali—verbal aggression, bodily pugnaciousness, and contemptuous dismissal—could all have been put to great use at United Nations Plaza. Of course, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his army of visible and invisible listeners were all on the job. One bad word about Israel and down goes Ali! Down goes Ali and the PPP. Sure, it is not Howard Cosell, but the point is made. Guyanese can do some thinking on their own. A gentle shove in the right direction is tried.

Anybody who has listened to President Ali once never, ever, wishes to torture themselves by willingly attending a repeat performance. People can take loudness up to a point. What they find most challenging is how to deal with all the hollowness. As a responsible citizen, a quiet warning is passed through channels for delivery to President Ali. It is time to tone down the volume. It is better to beef up on the substance. Loudness and boisterousness can only camouflage emptiness, what some interpret to be some state of unsoundness, for so long. It is advantageous to remember that ancient wisdom about barrels rolling downhill and the hospitality extended to those that have nothing inside. Whether it is the lofty United Nations or the multinational, but disunited, country called Guyana, people catch on quickly and make their tracks. The first objective is to put as much distance as possible between themselves and what is offensive to their sensibilities. Last, this beauty from former Rough Rider could be of considerable significance for President Ali, but only if taken to heart. Speak softly but cast a long shadow. It must be compelling.