THIS past week, most of Guyana and further afield would have witnessed live (or on replay) the President’s early morning ‘dress down’ of the chief agents responsible for contract execution at various levels in the ministries. He expressed indignant dissatisfaction with the pace of execution of some of the civil works at the community level, especially those that were more than four months late.
Many people, including those in the opposition made scathing remarks and references to the way events unfolded. On the surface of it and to a casual observer nescient to the MO of the president, this exercise appears to be crude and coarse-grained. It was jarring to many who presented views that there were other ways to handle the matters. I can also think of a dozen other ways to handle that matter but the president chose an unprecedented and unconventional approach. That said, it is a matter of perspective and I wish to provide mine.
First off, President Dr. Irfaan Ali is still a very young man who can aptly be described as a millennial. He is from a dual group affectionately described as Generation Y and Z. A group that is increasingly reliant on, and interactive with, digital bits and bytes to give effect and expression to their existence. In fact, they are referred to as digital natives. Despite the existence of protocols and precedencies, from previous generations, to exercise restraint on what is placed on the open digital space, millennials are not known for their hypervigilance.
President Ali, a millennial, is bound to conduct some of his affairs in the glare of live digital media. I believe that this decision is heavily influenced by the strong diktats of his generational cohort. President Ali, is indubitably the most accessible sitting president, to the media and the public than all other presidents before him combined. Having a digital media proclivity is not outside the realm of expectations. There is an ever-present phenom in the digital media that are called trolls. They perform what is called “rage farming.” They find selective outrage in just about anything someone does. You can’t smile, walk, talk, be animated or even sit still, no matter the circumstances. There is rage associated with your appearance, your outfit, your height, your width and just about anything; they are digital provocateurs.
Unlike every president before him, this president is a political maverick. He takes many unconventional approaches; he is certainly the most community interactive president this nation has seen. He mingles with random communities across Guyana and while visiting these communities there are occasions where he would encounter community projects that were stalled or going at a snail’s pace.
Observing firsthand the inconvenience to residents, the president is obviously unsettled and upset. He indicated that community discomfort keeps him up at nights. It is well known that the president has tried some of the conventional methods available to him. Therefore, his inclination to try something avantgarde should not be dismissed. It may be unsettling, but designed to induce results-oriented, purpose-driven community level project management. Vice-President Jagdeo referred to it as “tough love.”
Some of these community projects are handled and supervised by the various Regional Administrations and Municipalities and may be obscured in overall or generalised reports that make it to the president’s desk. Therefore, when he visits a community, especially with short notice, and receives complaints from residents, he is obviously embarrassed, sharing the received dosages with the appropriate project managers and supervisors (in the open) should not be unexpected.
Opposition agents provocateurs have come to the feeding troth; they see this as political fodder, and boy are they feeding without coming up for air. However, they need to be careful in trying to score political points while missing the real issues that people in these very communities care about. These communities may care more about a visit from the president, and in many cases may have never received a visit from any president in the past.
Many may wish they could publicly confront the supervisors of projects in the communities. They witnessed the president express, on their behalf, the same pain, frustration and indignation they feel. This resonates with the people in the communities who are the real voters, not the keyboard and webcam influencers perched overseas. So, when the opposition use the opportunity to label the president, the communities are out there saying, “the president provided the budget, and all that is needed for us to get XY and Z but is dem slow coach engineers and REOs got we waiting so long. He sack it in them, yuh gon see how fass deh gon run and done dis project. Issa good thing the man came in dis village or them wudda tek forever for done dis road.”
The people would have seen their president walking in their village, taking complaints and when he leaves, they see tangible action to address their concerns.
To many voters, the unconventional, maverick, avantgarde is not a voting issue for them; project delivery is. What this means is that the opposition would’ve missed the mark again, not only are they slow and reactive, they are sprinting in the disqualification lane.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.