OPINION: Pres. Ali should do the honorable thing: resign

Last Updated on Sunday, 8 June 2025, 16:49 by Writer

By GHK Lall

Chartered Accountant and attorney-at-law, Chris Ram presented a masterpiece titled “Presidency has been diminished by Mr. Ali and he ought not to be re-elected” (SN June 8-2025). It is powerful, revealing, and penetrating. It is a work of pain that strips Mohamed Irfaan Ali of whatever fig leaf he may have had left, behind which he shelters. The more he shelters, the more he exposes himself. If there is one weakness in Mr. Ram’s work, it is that he is too kind. He ought not to have placed or left that decision, however well-intended, to the electorate of Guyana. That is, to vote or not vote for him. Spare those citizens. Or, to General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP brain trust. I take that out of their hands. Because of the calumny that Dr. Ali heaped on his own head from allegations related to Lamborghini Gate, Tax-gate, and WhatsApp Gate he should do the honorable thing. President Mohamed Irfaan Ali should resign immediately. It is all he can do that gives himself an opportunity to salvage himself.

Go quietly and sensibly and decently into the sunset, Pres. Ali. Leave, Mr. Ali, in the middle of the day, and let that last ray of sunlight drive out all this darkness that hangs over the head, haunts every word, dogs every step, taints every observation of what the presidency of Guyana has been dragged into, as though it is some mutilated carcass. How the highest office in Guyana has now been almost irreparably fouled by the works of his own hand (as alleged), through which (again, as alleged) Mr. Ali hurled himself seemingly so casually, so thoughtlessly, so recklessly. Resigning would be the gracious thing for Mr. Ali to do. It should be noticed that I am now repeatedly referring to Mohamed Irfaan Ali as Mr. Ali. Not Excellency Ali, as is my wont. Not Pres. Ali, as is my standing practice. This is notwithstanding my grave concerns and alarms over some of his failures in the capacities of chief magistrate, chief proconsul, and chief senator in this Republic called Guyana. All those egregious failures, so clouded in presidential doubletalk. I name a handful only. Sanctity of contract (an abscessed tooth that has exploded, spilled pus over all Guyanese). Politically motivated (and for what, but what the law allows access to, for the transparency and accountability that he so solemnly promised). Is this man’s, this national leader’s word given, not worth anything? Some tiny peg on which Guyanese can place their trust? Something that pushes me to that summit to which I can claw, and be motivated to stand and say I believe. I trust. Therefore, give a chance. Let there be the space for making good, for justifying confidence vested.

It is Mr. Ali, not due to any speck of disrespect for the office of the presidency, but in recognition of the low road that he has made his own in the time of his occupation of that hallowed chamber.

Go graciously, Mr. Ali. Do not add further stain on Guyana by staying one moment longer. There is already too much blemish to share all around, and with plenty left over. Do not leave that burden, that choice, to the Guyanese voter. Don’t put them to that test. Resign now, sir. Just as I had recommended to then Pres. David Arthur Granger in the throes of the 2020 elections fiasco, I now also recommend to Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Vacate the presidency, sir. Go graciously. It has been besmirched enough. Let no further danger, let no more acrimony, let not one other morsel of the questionable, the unbecoming, the dubious and degrading be done to, be associated with, Guyana’s most visible office, its most treasured institution.

I will be the first to say that when the hour so demanded, when the confluence of circumstances was all arrayed against him, Mohamed Irfaan Ali stood at his tallest, rose to his noblest height, and left the presidency of his own volition, through the power of his own mind, one that still held one scintilla of self-respect for the Guyanese people. And the same for his own dignity. If not, how can he ever be trusted again? If not, what savagery will he wreak on the presidency that would be seemingly so dear to him? No office, no standing, no duty is so extraordinarily precious that it cannot be separated from, particularly when it has been so poisoned by one’s own hand.

Hear me this one time, Dr. Ali. I will give the courtesy of that prefix. But in the temper of circumstances, even that now becomes a struggle, given the sequence of developments, the glaring and shaming and inflaming events, that have propelled him to this sordid pass. Mine is the profound regret to care more for the heralded office of presidency of this Republic, and to care less for Mr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Often it is tough to be an older brother. This is one of those times. Go thine way, sir. Make thy peace with honor, my brother.