GOVT. PRESS CONFERENCES

PPP/C Government press conferences have degraded into perversities. When there is an occasionalpressconferenceheldbyPresidentAli, Guyanese hear their leader parroting lines perfected by ExxonMobiltoleadthepeopleastray Thereisapremiumin this country by the government that emphasizes accentuatingthepositives,whilethereispretendingthatthe manynegativesdonotexist.

To begin with, whenVice President Jagdeo holds what helabelsapressconference,hehasmadeithispracticetodo sofromhispartyheadquarters,FreedomHouse. Guyanese arenowforcedtodependforinformationontheirbusiness and interests from Freedom House. It is revealing about howmuchthepartyisparamount,withapagefromForbes Burnham’sbook,whenJagdeocouldeasilymakeuseofhis ownoffice,orOfficeofthePresident,ortheArthurChung ConventionCenter

No!vitalmattersoftheStatemustnowemergefromthe bowelsofFreedomHouse,whichisaninsulttoallcitizens. Also, Jagdeo deals with oil matters with those in backdoor media whom we would charitably categorize as people barely literate in business, finance, or similar such disciplines, sometimes even poorly equipped with the nuancesoftheEnglishLanguage.

When President Ali does descend from his Olympian throne to share information with Guyanese, it is as if he blessesthemwithwhattheydonotdeserve. Wewillignore for now the restrictions that the President placed on the media in his last press conference. If that was a press conference, then the effluence of the sewer has overtaken Guyana.

Forthelongestinterval,duringthemostdemandingtime inGuyana’shistory,PresidentAlihasshiedaway,slithered away,andhopped,skipped,andjumpedawayfromholding press conferences where there is an open field for frank, probing questions. Now, when he did hold one, it was a mockery of democracy’s liberties, and the leadership accountability,whichheclaimsforhimself.

The President, likely acting on orders, chewed out a good chunk of the clock, which limited bona fide media professionals from putting what he said under the microscope. Thefixwasin,andthePresidentandhispeople sawtothat,inthefarcethatmasqueradedunderthenameof pressconference.

President Ali spoke bountifully about the national economy,andhowmuchbetteritisdoingthansomanyofits peers,somanyanywhereonearth. Onecannothelpbuthear echoes of the public relations stunt that ExxonMobil’s Country Head, Mr Alistair Routledge, had pulled on Guyanese. According to the clever Mr Routledge, the horrendous 2016 oil contract is the best thing that ever happened to this poverty plagued country, since it gave Guyanathegreatestrevenuestreamthatthisplacehasever known.

WhenweheardPresidentAlispeakingglowinglyabout Guyana’sGDP(GrossDomesticProduct)athisWednesday press conference, there was the sense of having heard that before.Itwasanotherversion,withpresidentialsubtitles,of prior ExxonMobil’s public relations artfulness, and Mr Routledge’s skillful propaganda. The President can talk himself to tears all over the world, but he cannot bring himself,ororderhisoilchampion,VicePresidentJagdeo,to talk about renegotiation of the 2106 contract with ExxonMobil’s Mr Routledge. Moreover, President Ali makes a nice living informing everyone how his PPP/C Governmentiswiseandprudentinhandlingthebusinessof Guyanese. When either the president or Government is aboutwhatiswiseandprudent,Guyanesewillknow,andthe resultswillshow Forone,thereisagrowingbundleofdebt, and just servicing the debt load could be a drain on the national purse. For another, the government has splurged extravagantly on a variety of infrastructure projects, while too many Guyanese do not have enough to eat. Frankly, PresidentAli, should hang his head in shame, which could be one of the explanations for his constant hiding from the independentpress,hismediahandcuffs.