I AM not a supporter of President Macron, an elite, French conservative leader. I prefer leftist leaders such as President “Lula” in Brazil, who along with my own President and Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados are my favourites in the world.
I respect and admire the South African President. It is high time South Africa becomes a bigger force in world politics. It is a huge anti-imperialist presence on the globe.
Last week, Macron made a fuss about an appointment in the European Commission that carries prodigious power and authority in the commission. When I read about his feelings, I thought about my own passion on who should hold top jobs in Guyana.
From the time I became a UG lecturer in 1986 and I saw what we lecturers had to work with at Guyana’s premier educational institution, I dedicated myself to the cause of Guyanese who live here must come first in the choice of work before any other human on Planet Earth, including foreign-based Guyanese.
Macron reacted furiously when he heard that one of the top jobs in the government of the European Union was assigned to an American citizen. Now, remember that the European Commission is the government of the EU where it has the power to make appointments without input from the 27 individual nations. For example, it is the commission not the individual 27 countries that assign ambassadors to the EU embassies around the world.
After Britain pulled out of the EU it refused to grant full ambassadorial status to the EU envoy to London, arguing ambassadors come from sovereign countries. The Guyana Government took this position before the UK did that, and did not grant full ambassadorial status to the EU envoy here on Croal Street.
I am not sure if over the years that has changed. I am not aware if the EU envoys to the countries of the world have full ambassadorial accreditation. Now what is interesting to note is that a host government can complain to a foreign government about its ambassador, but it cannot do that in the case of EU envoys.
The point I am making is that the EU commission is a government by itself and makes important appointments to EU bodies without having to have the approval of the 27 member-states. The rallying cry in the British campaign to leave the EU by the Brexiters was that Britain had to subject itself to bureaucrats who were not elected and not subject to any government.
This is where Macron came in. Macron was livid when the news broke that the chief economist in the commission would be an American. An angry Macron asked one question and made one observation.
He queried why in a bloc of 450 million people, the commission couldn’t find a European scholar. He said that the White House would never have a foreign national in such a sensitive role. He opined that China would not go that route either.
The American pick has since declined the offer, but Macron’s objection has highlighted the question of patriotism and service to one’s country. From the time I became a UG lecturer and a newspaper columnist, I adumbrated freely my preference for all state vacancies to be filled by Guyanese who stayed here, showed patriotism and gave decades of service.
When the APNU+AFC came into power, I did not accept a foreign-based Guyanese at GRA, UG, and Go-Invest among other state institutions.
Over the decades, I questioned why should we overlook qualified Guyanese who worked for meagre salaries, were recipients of low pay, and victims of hard times and offer pivotal positions to those who gave the majority of their lives to other countries?
I will always remember the interview a Guyanese expatriate gave the Stabroek News when he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of UG in 2016. He described the experience he gained living over 30 years outside of Guyana. But there were people equally qualified to be UG Vice-Chancellor who lived all their lives in their own country.
If we choose expatriate Guyanese over locally based ones, then because of the colossal advantages the foreign-based Guyanese enjoy, the locals will never get the placement. One tsunamic example should suffice.
If you teach at UG, money for research and funding for travel and writing books are almost non-existent. The Guyanese who lives in a developed country and teaches at the university there will always have, comparatively, a more impressive curriculum vitae because money for research and travel from universities in developed countries are always there. We have an oil economy now, and preferences must be given to those who stayed in Guyana, persevered and endured.
