By GHK Lall
In observing Opposition Leader, Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, there’s a better appreciation of why he and Pres Ali have been such close friends for so many decades. Both men are close to power, and in both national figures, the power went straight to their heads. A shortage has since resulted. One believes he walks on water, the other believes that he can walk anywhere, at any time, and anyhow. Both see themselves as untouchable by anyone, and answerable to none. The president is overlooked today, the focus is on Mr. Mohamed.
He is everywhere and nowhere. A phone, a camera, a blowup. He is about many things, but what really is he about, that’s the question. There he was galloping around Kitty close to midnight, as though he is Guyana’s General George S. Patton, at the head of the troops and racing full-tilt across the terrain. It may be fine for an Azruddin Mohamed. But that wouldn’t make the grade for Guyana’s Opp Leader. The PPP of Jagdeo will make mincemeat out of him; in fact, is well along that road. Set him up. Trip him up. Then, hang him up. Look at where he is now. Where’s the benefit for the people he represents, for the Guyanese people who yearn for serious change? The kind of serious changes this country needs, requires serious men and women. Not one chasing after every shadow. It’s why there are leaders, and there are followers. Can anyone recall Dr. Jagdeo running off half-cocked? Sure, he did his best Freddy Kreuger and Hannibal Lector imitations, during his weekly Thursday afternoon horror movies. But he did so from the safety of Freedom House.
The point is that leaders must exercise a sense of restraint, of presence, and of their imprint in the bigger frame. I’m talking national here, not at the individual or personal level. OL Mohamed is either a man on the rise, and a keeper, or he is just another passing phase: all drum and no band. He may fancy himself akin to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, but he cannot be the only tank with gas. It’s called overextension. There are two deficits that results from such situations. First, the general gets so far in front of his army, that there’s the risk of friendly fire striking. Second, whether a charmed life is lived or not, that general will find himself all alone. Surrounded by those who has his movements, locations, down to a nursery rhyme. The technology that makes that possible is around. So is the manpower.
His old assets have soured. New ones must be cultivated. Instead of being always on the road, he must be big on strategy. What are those? What’s the vision for Guyana? What do the supporting planks look like? The narcissistic and charismatic, coupled to the economic, have their appeals. But the people must know the nuts and bolts. He can’t jail the whole PPP (though not undeserving). He can’t get rid of the Guyana Police, for then what’s the alternative? Exposures about farms, high-rises, and goldfields are all sexy and compelling. For the moment. But tomorrow’s newspaper is still pending, and the next. Where’s the content? How does the Opposition feature? What is its message to Guyanese who have had enough of PPP roguery, and could be persuaded by the candidate that comes well-packaged, and well-briefed?
The reality of Mr. Mohamed is that he comports himself like an island. The problem for him is that there are rocks to his left and right, and quicksand both before and after him. Feeding the fire of adversaries is a fool’s tactic. Why do that, go there? It has backfired in a bad way. My last piece of counsel for OL Mohamed is that to be a real general, he has to leave alone operating like a general handyman.
