In what can only be described as a public meltdown, President Irfaan Ali’s early morning assault on his critics reveals a dangerous blend of arrogance, insecurity, and incompetence unbecoming of a head of state. Rather than offering sober, fact-based responses to legitimate concerns, President Ali took to social media to unleash an incoherent, rambling tirade against some of Guyana’s brightest minds to whom he referred as egotistical among other choice pejoratives. The President was not courageous enough to call names but we can only assume that he is referring to individuals such as Christopher Ram, Dr. Terrence Campbell, and organizations like the GHRA, among others—who dared to question his government’s abuse of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF).
Delivered in a series of verbal stumbles, malapropisms, and perplexing phrases, the president’s remarks were more personal attack than policy rebuttal. His choice to vilify critics as “egotistical,” “willfully ignorant,” and full of “convenient consciences” exposed not their failings, but his own inability to handle scrutiny. “Characters in a movie,” he called them, while conveniently ignoring the mounting evidence of corruption, broken promises, and mismanagement plaguing his government.
While the president stammered through his prepared script—full of accusations but devoid of substance—commentators were quick to point out the irony. As one observer aptly put it: “Look who’s reading big words, most of which are foreign to him, and clearly written for him.” Ali’s theatrical deflection fell flat because those he attacked—respected professionals with decades of service to Guyana—are “ten times more intelligent than he is.”
President Ali should first address the questions surrounding his own credibility. How is it, critics ask, that he obtained a Master’s degree before completing a Bachelor’s? How did transcripts from a dubious and unaccredited institution facilitate his academic rise? And where, pray tell, is the elusive dissertation that supposedly crowns his qualifications?
These questions are far from trivial, as they speak to the character and credibility of a man who now leads a nation during a time of oil wealth and rising inequality. Rather than comment on his failure to deliver the $100,000 grant promised to citizens, the spiraling cost of living, rampant corruption among his ministers and government officials, racial discrimination against people of African descent or the rise in crime rates, President Ali has chosen to focus his ire on those who hold his administration accountable.
The president’s reference to the 2018 no-confidence motion and the prior NRF Act is nothing but a tired distraction. If the government’s current NRF framework is as flawless as Ali claims, it should withstand the scrutiny of his critics. Instead, the president resorts to personal insults, exposing his government’s contempt for debate, democracy, and dissent.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) government appears to forget that it was elected to serve the people, not to bully them into silence. The NRF is not the government’s private piggy bank, nor can it be shielded from examination. Ali’s theatrics will not erase the growing distrust among Guyanese citizens—especially when they see wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while families struggle to survive.
The president’s unprofessional and unbecoming performance highlights a growing disconnect between his government and the realities of the nation. Afro-Guyanese communities, Amerindian leaders, and even his party’s own ordinary supporters across the country are feeling abandoned. Meanwhile, those who dare speak out face ridicule and condemnation from the very man who swore to lead all Guyanese with dignity and fairness.
As residents grapple with rising hardship, spiraling costs, and unfulfilled promises, they are left to ask: Is this what Guyanese deserve? President Ali’s contemptuous assault on his critics proves that rather than governing for the public good, he would prefer to silence the truth, bury the facts, and dismiss the people who demand better. Guyana deserves leadership, not tantrums.
President Ali needs to address the issues that matter—not hide behind grandstanding or scripted monologues. The people of Guyana are watching, and they deserve answers, not insults. “The King is naked!”