OPINION: Minister Rodrigues and Pres. Ali – a masterclass in ‘smelling salts’

Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 January 2026, 23:31 by Writer

By GHK Lall

Minister Susan Rodrigues approached and appealed. Pres. Irfaan Ali adjudicated and approved. The clutches of the octopus reach upwards and they extend downwards. Of care and consideration. Of presidential compassion. Pres. Ali is now more than review board, law board, and a bottomless board of kindness, all by himself. He is the board of final determination. I nominate him for a Nobel Prize. Somebody please send up that to Stockholm to make it official. I think physics is safe for a prize, seeing that the matter concerning Minister Rodrigues made so many waves, with the president in his singular genius calming the rowdy, murky waters. Circular motion is what I call the president’s very thoughtful action, which snakes from the heights to the depths (and back). The minister knelt at the president’s feet, and in typical political leadership (PPP) fashion, he dispensed mercy and justice. Who needs Jesus, when there’s Irfaan Ali, doctor and excellency? It is why I love this country. More than America. Sometimes.

The things taught in political science. It is more of what I learn in PPP Governance Science 201. It is the president’s second term, so that’s appropriate. With a wave of his hand all of Minister Rodrigues’ troubles vanished into the ether. I don’t care what anybody says, but that’s access, that’s power. Whenever I join the PPP, the mischievous streak in me will ask both the president and the minister to teach me the secret of such discussions, considerations, negotiations, and rapid conclusions. In fact, I think that upon entering the PPP circle, I may be tempted to give up my Roman Catholic affiliation. What use is there for popes with their indulgences and dispensations, when there is Pres. Ali? Pres. Ali not only has immunity, he is now rather freehanded in conferring immunity on his Chosen Ones. I want some of that blessing. Don’t need, just want as side insurance.

The PPP has long held out itself as a paragon of purity and infallibility. Its people can’t do any wrong. In the perfect world inhabited by the PPP Govt, nothing sticks. When wrongdoing is alleged of its bright public faces, it has to be the work of malcontents and misfits bent on sullying the good name of the party. The objective is to make it look less than pristine, clean before the army of foreigners now present here, with the ABC&E diplomatic corps standing at the apex. In the remote circumstances where wrong is alleged and tracks were not completely covered, there is always the One-Judge Privy Council in the person of Dr. Irfaan Ali to decide on the rules of engagement, and how the proceedings end.

Minister Rodrigues was living with a severe concussion, the worst of political strikes, as alleged. Then, in the matter of a few minutes, all her troubles were over, the problems that plagued, a thing of the past. That is reach. That is oomph on pure oxygen. I wrote before that she is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and let there not be any rush to judgement. Apparently, the president heard me, for she got more than the benefit of the doubt. What can surpass, is more beneficial than, a presidential imprimatur? One of these days, I will fall into that charmed circle of golden children, come into my own with the people that matter.

It is good to be a minister these days, at any time, come to think of it. Back in 2015, it was a PNC senior honcho, who made the incomparably delicious statement that when ministers are paid more, they tend to turn their backs on corruption. My challenge is to understand how PPP success stories find the time and energy and opportunity to be such vibrant presences among the property class. They don’t only work overtime, they do their homework, confident that they would obtain parental approval of their actions. In place of parental sub presidential, as the situation requires.

This is a country for the ages. Minister Rodrigues was on the ropes. Then she roped in Pres. Ali. Those trying to hang her now find themselves at the end of their own rope. Dr. Ali is something special, always with a bottle of smelling salts to deal with crisis situations in the PPP. Thus, Susan Rodrigues was able to bounce from crisis right past convalescence and back into the company of her kind. The PPP takes care of its own, of that be assured.