Dear Editor,
I SEEK your indulgence to respond to a December 12 column in the Kaieteur News titled ‘Pres. Ali – one who surrenders self-respect’ written by GHK Lall[1] – an individual who has made a career out of writing the same column in different words for almost five years. The piece was yet another assault on President Irfaan Ali – a daily practice of Lall who, over the past five years, has attempted, in futility, to dent the credibility of the President and his Government.
Using his predictable writing formula, Lall makes sweeping pronouncements devoid of evidence, critical thought, and analysis. For instance, he asserts that: “the only person… who twinned those [the 2025] elections as being free and fair was Dr Irfaan Ali.”
This, of course, is demonstrably untrue. None of the observer groups, which include the European Union, Organization of American States, CARICOM, and local civil society, declared the elections fraudulent or lacking credibility. In fact, observer reports acknowledged several things, including a peaceful process, a smoothly managed balloting day, and no evidence of rigging.
Lall’s insistence on hearing (or reading) the words ‘free and fair’ to conclude that the elections were credible does not suggest a flaw in the electoral process; rather, it exposes the limitations of his analytical abilities. By his standard, elections in even the most mature democracies would fail his test.
It is customary in democratic systems for election observer groups to highlight concerns which they use as a basis to make recommendations to improve electoral systems – systems which continuously evolve based on the very recommendations of observer groups. It is not uncommon in any part of the world. But Lall, being the theatrical writer that he is, stretches those concerns and recommendations into a wholesale condemnation that none of the observer groups made in relation to the 2025 general and regional elections.
In fact, the President’s remarks align with what the observer groups concluded: that GECOM conducted credible elections and the results reflected the will of the electorate – a fact which Lall seems unable to bring himself to accept after spending the last five years waging a brutal campaign against President Ali and the PPP/C Government.
Secondly, Lall’s accusation that the government “operated under cover of darkness” to pass the Natural Resource Fund legislation has been repeated enough times that critics like him forget to check the record. The fact is that the bill was tabled in the National Assembly, debated, and voted on in accordance with our laws and parliamentary procedures. While he has a right to disagree with provisions of the legislation, suggesting that it was smuggled in at midnight is disingenuous. The standard for transparency is not determined by outcomes, which only Lall approves of.
Regarding access to information, the PPP/C Government has published more data, more sectoral reports, more procurement disclosures, and more project-level details than any government in the history of Guyana; while public officials, including the President and Ministers of Government, remain accessible to the press daily. This is a simple fact which Lall himself would be unable to dispute.
He then goes on to suggest that the President “kowtows to foreign powers” – a comment which reveals either selective memory or a willingness to ignore inconvenient facts.
This is the same President who, in the past five years, has led a unified regional stance at CARICOM on the Guyana-Venezuela controversy and who secured international support from the OAS, Commonwealth, US, UK, CARICOM and other world powers on Guyana’s territorial integrity. It is the same President who positioned Guyana as a global leader on climate finance and low-carbon development, chaired global conversations on food and energy security and strengthened South-South partnerships far beyond what Guyana had previously achieved.
It is the same President whose leadership on the border controversy – and within a highly charged and complex international system – allows Lall to continue his daily vitriol against the Guyana Government without the fear of Maduro becoming his President one day.
Editor, it was also astonishing to read Lall, who has established a prolific letter-writing career through the local press, lamenting Guyana being “bitterly polarised” when, for five years, polarisation has been the oxygen that fuels his pieces. This gentleman has written daily for five years as though Guyana is perpetually on the brink, permanently degraded, and irredeemably hopeless.
But his disappointment and preferences cannot be a substitute for evidence, and the evidence points to a President who enjoys the confidence, love, admiration and respect of the Guyanese people, reflected in the overwhelming support he received at the polls just a few months ago.
On the other hand, Lall’s critique of the President is grounded in a personal worldview where PPP/C leaders are assumed to be weak, compromised, or deceitful unless they match his posture of permanent indignation.
Editor, criticism plays an essential role in democracy, and the President, along with his government, should be subject to fair, evidence-based scrutiny. But Guyanese deserve quality commentary that fairly assesses the performance of our leaders and accurately reflects the reality of our country – not a tired refrain from a self-styled intellectual with privileged access to the press.