Dear Editor,
There have been many letters and comments on the 10-year passports with President Ali’s slogan “One Guyana” emblazoned therein. It may have escaped attention that the Constitution of Guyana – Article 5 and Schedule 2 – includes the emphatic statement on the country’s national motto with the words “One People, One Nation, One Destiny”. It is, therefore, a violation of the Constitution for the Ali Administration to unilaterally seek to impose party hegemony – or, as Forbes Burnham referred to it, party paramountcy – over the Guyana Constitution.
A country’s passport is not a political billboard but a sovereign document that belongs to all its citizens, supporters and non-supporters alike. Therefore, unless amended, no other words can appropriately be substituted. Even Trump, with all his excesses and Executive Orders, would not dare to use his MAGA (Make America Great Again) on that country’s passport.
We have already witnessed the “One Guyana” slogan appearing at the entrance of the University of Guyana, as well as in public sector documents, school materials, government-sponsored events, the national currency, and photographs in every public building in Guyana. This all-consuming obsession with photo opportunities and personal branding has permeated almost every aspect of public life. Now, with the slogan’s appearance on our passports, the administration has crossed a dangerous line – effectively forcing every citizen who requires international travel to carry party propaganda. It even suggests that allegiance to a political vision is a prerequisite for full citizenship, a notion fundamentally at odds with democratic principles.
President Ali is the first full-term President of our oil-rich economy. He has a right and an opportunity to create a meaningful legacy for himself. As Head of State and Executive President, he is expected to do the ceremonial things – like ribbon cuttings and sod turning on top of grandiose announcements. But he needs to have a balance that allows him to address the serious stuff – like widespread corruption, constitutional reform, compliance with constitutional guardrails, reduction in income and wealth distribution, proper governance, and equal opportunities for all Guyanese.
He needs to get this balance right. Even though he has embarrassingly failed to meet his 25 by 25 commitment to CARICOM, he was able to find time to do research and write a book Achieving Global Food Security (on sale on Amazon for US$38). In other words, President Ali should be spending more time on real issues and measurable progress in the daily lives of Guyanese and national outcomes, and not focus on frivolities, however easy and tempting they might be.
Sincerely,
Christopher Ram