YOU read and listen to what anti-government critics say and an irony larger than the land-space of Russia jumps out at you. The entire bandwagon of anti-government people in this country, of which the private media, toxic civil society groups and all the opposition parties and their surrogates are part of, continues to describe the government as either undemocratic or autocratic.
So steeped in their anti-government insanity, they cannot see the irony in their claim. This country is deeply democratic in that there was not even a whisper in government circles to stop Azruddin Mohamed from contesting the elections in 2025 and there will not be any move to stop him if his party enters the local government elections next year.
In many countries Guyanese have grown up to accept as the perfect examples of democracy, those countries would never have allowed Mohamed to become a contestant muchless the Opposition leader. In the US, there were serious attempts by the US Government and the intelligence agencies to derail the candidacy of Donald Trump when Trump first ran for the presidency. The American establishment came close to preventing Trump by the dangerous strategy of linking him with a country the US regarded as an enemy – Russia
The French political establishment has prevented Marie Le Pen from contesting the 2027 presidential race because of fear that she might win. The European Union dictated to the Rumanian Election Council to bar the frontrunner, Calin Georgescu, from contesting the presidential election last year.
In Guyana, a dubious, dangerous and unpleasant character ran for the presidency in 2025 and no secretive hand tried to stop him and the fellow became the Opposition Leader. It should never have happened. There was nothing in the character of Mohamed that allowed him to become a politician. This was an ostentatious playboy who did nothing useful with his life except to display opulence and chauvinism.
Then came the moment when democracy remained neatly untouched. Mohamed’s name was associated with a homicide in which the wrong person died, the intended target being one of Guyana’s most notorious former drug lords. But democracy prevailed and Mohamed became Opposition Leader.
This comparatively unknown country produced one of the world’s biggest ironies since civilisation began. The very bandwagon that paints the Government of Guyana as undemocratic is a beneficiary of Mohamed. Azruddin Mohamed penetrated the private media, all the opposition parties and civil organisations. One opposition party headed by a medical doctor subsumed itself under Mohamed’s party for the 2025 general election. This writer has solid information that a new online news outfit started out with a huge donation from Mohamed, which was delivered indirectly.
Since he acquired Opposition Leader status, Mohamed has been playing a dangerous game. His fools who see the Guyana Government as undemocratic are Mohamed’s biggest cheerleaders and each time Mohamed plays his dangerous games, the cheers get louder. Listen to the applause from Azruddin’s bedfellows last week over a criminal infraction by Mohamed.
He used a high-powered speedboat knowing that seven years ago the vehicle’s documents had expired. But the boat story is part of an ongoing strategy that the fools in the bandwagon are mentally incapable of understanding. Mohamed’s fundamental stratagem is to defy the laws of Guyana, so national sympathy can be generated when state authorities step in to make sure he is not above the law.
The boat incident takes us back to last year and earlier this year when Mohamed drove vehicles whose required documents were missing. When the police intervened, Mohamed cried harassment to secure societal sympathy. The boat drama is an exact replica of this stratagem. More of this political methodology is coming in the next few days and weeks and months until Mohamed is rightfully removed from Guyana’s soil.
So, what is coming next is another action by Mohamed that will risk arrest. He wants to be arrested because the ultimate aim is to become a victim of vendetta and that translates into sympathy, which results in support. And he gets that support from his ironic fools who are intoxicated with their anti-government brew.
The opposition parties that Mohamed aided in the past or still bankrolls and the private media that benefits from him have all decried the legitimate police action against him. And he loves it and keeps laughing because he knows he is playing the fools in the opposition.
So, the society is waiting to see tomorrow or next week what the next sympathy generating action will be, even though that action will be illegal. Guyana is an impeccable example of democratic tolerance and democratic embrace to have allowed a socially questionable character like Mohamed to be part of this country’s political architecture. It is one of Guyana’s lowest moments.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.