DR. CHEDDI Jagan had his critics, whom Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves opined were not fit to tie his shoelaces. 

At any other time, one could have concluded that the Vincentian Prime Minister hero-worshipped Guyana’s liberator when he presented the Cheddi Jagan Annual Lecture entitled, “Cheddi Jagan: His Nationalism, His Regionalism and His Internationalism” last Monday evening at the Red House in Kingston.
This editorial column does not provide the requisite space for a dissection of Dr. Gonsalves’ superlative dissertation of the ideologies, philosophies and struggles of Guyana’s Dr. Jagan. However, there is need for the preservation of this exquisitely precise characterisation of Guyana’s foremost freedom fighter and first Executive President of a PPP/C governmental construct.
In his concluding remarks, Dr Gonsalves made the amazingly insightful comment that Dr. Jagan’s intellect, honesty, decency, humanity, charisma and commitment in improving the lot of the poor and the working-class set him apart as a brightness that sparkled and illuminated, making him a shining light in the stratosphere of his existentiality.
But he was not a light that blinded; and here Dr. Gonsalves drew parallels between the bright lights of oncoming traffic that cause accidents and even deaths, and the light that illuminates for progressive, uplifting dynamics in the socio-economic and political equations in Guyana, the Caribbean, and the world at large.
He described the Founder-Member of the People’s Progressive Party as a leader of extraordinary quality. But it takes an equally extraordinary leader to understand, recognise, celebrate and commemorate Dr. Cheddi Jagan with such perspicacity and precision as Dr. Gonsalves did last Monday evening, as he elucidated and even at times waxed lyrical on Dr. Jagan’s nationalism; his regionalism; and his internationalism.
He expressed tremendous regard for Dr. Jagan’s quintessential humanity and his rare leadership skills; and his great esteem for Dr. Jagan’s “… immense contribution to Guyana and the Caribbean” was apparent as he continued to evaluate the life and works of a Caribbean leader he obviously highly regarded and honoured; someone whom he described as his friend, comrade and mentor.
Noting that Dr. Jagan’s leadership task was centred on enhancing the strengths and possibilities, and reducing as far as practicable the weaknesses and limitations, even to transform these weaknesses and limitations into strengths and possibilities, Dr. Gonsalves, in a subliminal anecdotal and brilliant dissection, drew a nexus between Jesus’ betrayal by His most trusted disciples; the unctuous handwashing of Pontius Pilate, with the implicit and implied reference to recurrent betrayals of Dr. Jagan and the PPP by trusted lieutenants and associates down the corridors of Guyana’s history, and the superpowers who were integral to ousting the first PPP Government from office.
A third term in office as elected Prime Minister signifies a people’s trust in their leader; but this comes as no surprise if one were to weigh Dr. Gonsalves’ extremely significant and insightful delivery of the Cheddi Jagan Annual Lecture at Red House last Monday evening, because it is only an extraordinary leader who could have dissimulated the characteristics that made Dr. Cheddi the quintessential humanitarian and leader par excellence’ that he was.
It signals to the discerning that Dr. Gonsalves has the inherent qualities to recognise Dr. Jagan’s supreme qualities to lead and govern: And whether he imbibed some of those qualities from Dr. Jagan, whom he described as his mentor, or inhered them from other origins is moot, because his reverence for all that Dr. Jagan was and stood for was clear and his language was (for the most part) unambiguous as he extolled with superb and meticulous precision a man for all seasons – of substantial standing in his own and the world’s regard.
The PPP has a track record for making wise choices; and every member of the rapt, spellbound audience unanimously agreed that the invitation to hear Dr. Ralph Gonsalves deliver this annual lecture was a brilliant choice indeed and that this erudite, scholarly dissertation should be recorded for posterity.