A photograph of President Donald Ramotar has turned viral and there have been comments from all sides of the spectrum without drawing much concern from leaders in the government.
This is not the first time a President of Guyana has been caught on camera blackballing, we can only hope that the frequency does not denote a trend in “leadership” style.
It is not for me to decide if “backballing” is moral, ethical, appropriate or permissible by the President or anyone else for that matter, but there are some basic questions we must ask ourselves:
- Should our political leaders' actions (in public) be held to a higher standard than our own?
- Would we like our children to be audience members to this kind of activity particularly by "leaders"?
- How does a public display of blackballing help or hinder our ability to be taken seriously as we “perform” in our professional lives.
- If the tables were turned and we saw our wives blackballing with another man, what would be the ensuing events?
- What is the message we are sending to the world, about our view of women? In a world where women are rising increasingly to leadership positions after centuries of subjugation, are we comfortable being seen in this light on the world stage?
What is incredulous in this instance is the silence, or in some cases, appeasement from some in President Ramotar’s Party, including his wife about his action. This from the same group that is always pointing fingers at events 29 plus years ago.
We have all made mistakes, some pay more dearly than others, but to sit quietly pretending nothing has happened as the roar of comments abound the world, is either cowardly or brazen beyond reproach and smacks as being naive or worse yet, of questionable judgment.
To those who seem to justify the President's action by saying that many of us have done it before.
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."