THE Presidency under David Granger will undoubtedly be significantly different from that of previous Heads of State. Over the past two to three weeks, there have been perhaps more changes and different ways of doing things more than ever in Guyana’s history. 

The sweeping changes started at the Public Buildings where Granger officially started his Presidency. Every other Head of State prior to this started theirs at State House, the official residence of the President of Guyana.
That perhaps was the signal of changes to come and the attitude to not do things in the run-of-the-mill fashion as previous Heads of State including Donald Ramotar, Bharrat Jagdeo and Cheddi Jagan.
David Granger’s swearing-in was a public affair in Georgetown on May 16, 2015. It was at that swearing-in where he announced another grand public affair that no other President ever dreamed of – an official Inauguration Day – coinciding with Guyana’s 49th Independence Anniversary.

David Granger has sought to do things differently from his predecessors. He attended a Church service on the Sunday following his swearing-in, an occasion to which he drove himself. His fleet of presidential cars (of three), consists of two outriders and another luxury van, to which he instructed the police to not use loud sirens whenever he would be travelling.

Then a wave of community-mindedness has swept over Georgetown over the past two weeks. This was undoubtedly kick-started by Granger’s massive transformation around the (lost and forgotten) Independence Arch on Brickdam in Georgetown.

Perhaps, too, tons of garbage has been removed from Georgetown over the past days, inspiring the involvement of companies, citizens and spirit-minded Guyanese to bring back Georgetown to its renowned pride as the Garden City of the Caribbean. The sudden inspiration and interest and involvement of Guyanese in this clean-up effort caught on like wild fire over the past days as intensified actions to clean up the Garden City, permeated the atmosphere. Psychologists can probably describe the background to these actions, but nevertheless it must be commended.

David Granger seems to be a simple man, setting a tone for what his Presidency would be like. Attired in a simple black or dark-coloured, long-sleeved shirt, with a Guyana flag lapelled onto the sleeve, Granger’s Presidency would be remembered by many, as it seems. While the previous Donald Ramotar Administration was dedicated and focused on building large infrastructural projects to improve life and services in Guyana, Granger’s Presidency will be a very simple one aimed at restoring Guyana to its nationalism and nationalistic pride. It wasn’t a coincidence that his first order of business as President of Guyana was to restore and clean up the areas in and around the Independence Arch. To many, including myself, that historic monument never existed. I never even thought about it when teaching Forts and Monuments in Social Studies in my classrooms at school, simply because I never knew the structure existed. Over the past days, the arch has become one of the most photographed areas of Georgetown. Corporate entities along with the present Administration and private citizens have come on board to restore the Arch, a gift from the Demerara Bauxite Company on Guyana’s achievement of Independence in 1966. I can hardly wait to visit this site during my next trip to Georgetown.

David Granger has put this monument back into our textbooks and this historical fact back into our minds and hearts.

This was poetic in every way – the restoration of the Arch, signalling the tone of the David Granger Presidency. A few days ago, he renamed the Convention Centre at Liliendaal in honour of Guyana’s first President, a Chinese man, Arthur Chung.

Continuing to do things the Granger way, he renamed several ministries and created a few more that delineated their functions to a more specific way, for easier administration and monitoring I guess.
He extended the invitation to the former Administration to be a part of governing the country. I could be wrong, but no other Administration ever did that.

He changed the national Independence Day flag-raising celebrations from the National Park on Independence Eve (May 25) to the Independence Arch, much to the furore of the former Administration and a few. Also, he announced the return of National Awards and Medals in Guyana billed for later this year. This feature, whereby outstanding citizens were selected and awarded with these national accolades, was missing from the national fact sheet since 2011.

And David Granger announced he would pardon 60 prisoners currently serving time at the prisons in what would be an annual Independence Day Presidential Pardon. These 60 persons, the Government stated, would have committed minor and petty crimes over the past years. Many have applauded this move by Granger.

David Granger intends to do things differently. When heads were rolling from various agencies in 1992 after the PPP/C took over Government from the PNC, it was a tough time for many. Several political figures that belonged to the PNC were sent packing. David Granger has vowed to keep all if not most of the persons that held positions under the PPP/C Administration, albeit them having had (open) political allegiance and ties to the former Administration. He however announced that they must now do their work in a professional manner. And so they must.

Change is always good, but nevertheless hard to accept by many. Change is inevitable; we’ve heard that before. I find it hard sometimes to accept the changes of life, but I have seen that sometimes changes are not that bad.

As for the fruits of the changes that David Granger has made so far and those forthcoming — only time would tell. But Guyanese, I’m sure are open and willing to embrace such changes as per the excitement and happiness being expressed across several sections of the Guyanese society.

As for the former Administration, I believe the PPP/C should regroup, strategise and re-enter the Parliament, prepared to represent their support base in an effective way. I will not be looking forward to the PPP/C as an Opposition party that would also do things differently now that they are in Opposition, in that they would not behave like their colleagues in the last Parliament. I expect too a change from the PPP/C, and am confident that this party of the working-class people of Guyana, alive and strong for over half a century, can and will outperform the expectations of its supporters and all Guyanese.

David Granger’s Presidency will be an historic one in our times and will be talked about for generations to come. Let us give him a chance to enact these changes, which I am optimistic and excited to see our nation become this ‘patriotic’ and ‘nationalistic’ icon we once occupied across the Caribbean and in the Western Hemisphere. Guyana’s history is much more than PPP, PNC and Burnham. We have stood out for our quality of education; flora; fauna; colonial architecture; exemplary services of our citizens over the decades, like Sir Shridath Ramphal and Baroness Valerie Amos; our national songs – second to none I’m sure across the world – the feeling you get when you hear them being played or sung! And our national symbols – the pride of our nation – the Independence Arch, a gift from a bauxite company to the people of Guyana in 1966; historic buildings, some of the most fine ancient architecture you would find anywhere in the world; and majestic Kaieteur Falls and our untouched, pristine forests. Guyana stands out as the only English-speaking country in South America, the so-called gateway to this continent.

Even if the David Granger Presidency does not build elaborate and fancy mega projects during the next five years, I would be very happy if the national pride can be restored to our tiny little Guyana, in the hearts of every 750,000 Guyanese; rebranding our country with national and patriotic awareness.
That not only lifts the self-esteem of every single Guyanese, but I know David Granger, an historian, is fully aware of the trickle-down effects that would bring to our people. The man knows that a proud people, loyal and devoted to the symbols of our nationhood and to our country, would stir up within themselves that innate desire to work and build Guyana – you cannot buy that for a million dollars anywhere.

LEON SUSERAN