By Sherod Duncan
“Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end. The sun pours down on the earth, on the lovely land that man cannot enjoy. He knows only the fear of his heart.” – Alan Paton

THERE was general disappointment with comments attributed to the Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, recently, that the closure of sugar estates were among other things racially motivated. Such comments are unfortunate, even if their trajectory is calculated for effect.

Mr Jagdeo occupies an important office in our nation, with the consent of a great number of citizens whose interests he cannot represent with such careless, and worst, reckless talk. As a constitutional office-holder, it is worth reminding the leader of the opposition of the phrase made popular in the World War II era, “Loose lips sink ships”.

Though baseless rhetoric, such posturing has the potential of becoming incendiary; reversing the clock to periods in our 50 years of history, seared in a generation’s consciousness, of the blood and the tears. Has our history taught us nothing? Does the holocaust offer no lessons we could learn? Surely, we could look to South Africa’s apartheid; to Rwanda’s genocide and be guided by their dark, tragic experiences.

We have in Guyana a nation in need of healing. We take account of the history of our wounds. But, is there no balm in Gilead? Far beyond the perennial spread of doom and gloom, a leader is a dealer in hope. The malady of the sugar industry did not begin in 2015 when the new government took office, and if remedying its problems was easy, Mr. Jagdeo would have done so when he held the reins of power as President.

Now as Leader of the Opposition, Mr Jagdeo has a greater responsibility beyond appealing narrowly to his base: to rise above the rabble, knowing the issue acutely. Just as the government knows after its 30-odd billion subsidy to the industry that throwing money at a problem does not always make it go away.

But as Celia Sandys and Johnathan Littman state in ‘We Shall Not Fail: The Inspiring Leadership of Winston Churchill’, “Wise leaders do not stick blindly to fixed positions when conditions change.

“Always reserve for yourself the right to change your mind, to switch course in light of changing events and conditions.” Mr Jagdeo has the opportunity to elevate the national discussion far above the madding crowd, and provide real leadership as against reacting to the moment in fits and tantrums. We are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

Away from the notorieties of his presidency, the leader of the opposition has been gifted a second chance of leaving a legacy as lasting as the 45 miles of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway. The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.