AS President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan and his PPP/C Administration continue to press the accelerator of the country’s massive developmental agenda, there are forces in our society that seem bent on trying, as it were, to put spokes in the wheels of the growth and developmental momentum which from all indications had gone into overdrive. What the country needs more than ever is the collective energy of the entire society, including that of the political opposition.

This unfortunately remains elusive, especially as far as the opposition is concerned. The refusal of the Opposition Leader, Mr. Aubrey Norton to show up for a meeting with President Ali represents yet another indication of a disruptive opposition agenda.

It boggles the mind that something as fundamentally important for the governance of the country can be treated with such high levels of disdain by the opposition leader. This is all the more puzzling given the fact that the opposition leader is in receipt of all the required documentation he requested from the President which he deemed necessary to facilitate the consultation process.

One is left to wonder whether there is any ulterior motive on the part of the opposition leader in his refusal to attend the consultation meeting on May 30. The very least he could have done was to indicate his unavailability. This is basic decency and courtesy and certainly does not speak highly of someone who holds the important constitutional office as Leader of the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition has to come to terms with some ‘inconvenient truths’ as they pertain to our political realities, the first of which is that the President has a constitutional responsibility to govern by virtue of an elected mandate. There is no requirement for the President to find a time that is convenient to the Opposition Leader. Every second is precious especially when seen against the tight schedule of the President within recent weeks. How exactly the President manages to fit so many activities into his daily routine is a mystery in its own right and speaks to his extraordinary energy levels and his commitment to national and regional goals.

Having regard to the above, it is for Norton to make himself available to meet with President Ali and not the other way round. There can hardly be any real justification for the opposition leader not meeting with the President when invited which can only be seen as an act of open disrespect to the highest office of the land.

Those who felt that with the election of a new Leader of the Opposition in the person of Aubrey Norton, a new approach and attitude to governance and, more particularly to the democratically elected PPP/C administration would have found this most recent action most disappointing if not disgusting. The adage of a leopard being unable to change its stripes does seem to have some relevance in the context of the bahaviour of the main political opposition.

President Ali, for his part, is continuing along the path of the politically moral high ground. As noted by the President, ‘these are important national issues and I want them completed in an environment of respect and an environment of dignity because, as I have said before, I am pursuing ‘One Guyana’. It is clear to me that those aspirations of mine may not be shared by Mr. Norton because he did not have the dignity, the professionalism to even respond orally or in writing to the invitation.’

The actions by the opposition leader are most irresponsible and smacks of a fair degree of political immaturity. This is most unfortunate. One can only hope that he can rise above pettiness and respond to the imperatives of a new and changing Guyana.