In the hours after Donald Ramotar emerged as the winner in the presidential race, he began to extend a gesture of cordiality to his adversaries, the AFC and APNU, with the implied application of “collaboration and cooperation” in the interest of national unity and development.

It was the practical, sensible thing to do.  Ya think, right?

Of course.  The PPP did not turn out to be the “unprecedented” landslide winner as the NACTA polls predicted.  Instead, the vanguard party of the working class won the presidency - and lost the majority in parliament.  That the opposition’s parliamentary advantage brought a new equation to the politics of dominance and triumphalism, President Donald Ramotar and his party, quite cognizant of the political hazards, are going to have to struggle to adjust to this new kind of volatility.

In the language of poets it is called a pyrrhic victory and a moral defeat.

The new president, as a sign of goodwill, also lifted the Jagdeo embargo against journalist Gordon Moseley from State House and OP, inviting him to his swearing-in ceremony.  It seemed like a good idea; signaling a marked distancing of the cuss-down culture of President Bharrat Jagdeo - the man-against-the media; and the building blocks of a new relationship between the regime and the independent media.  How nice.

You could sense the blubbery ego filling with helium, yet again.  You could imagine President Ramotar as a proud hit-or-miss winner of the lottery jackpot.  You could imagine him as an enormous hot-air balloon, straining at the ties, ready to lift off into the stratosphere.  You could imagine, without much effort, the balloon expanding too quickly and then … Pop!

Or maybe not.

This may be President Donald Ramotar’s magic moment.  He is standing at the crossroads of history.  And history will determine how he goes down in the books.  It’s about the choices he will have to make, whether he presides like a kick-ass, bad-ass or dumb-ass president.  It is all within the demands of the historical juncture.

He sidled into prominence almost by fly-by- night maneuvers and emerged at a most propitious moment.  Most of his party rivals, Gail Texeira and Clement Rohee, for example, have had their day and have been found wanting.  And in this stunted field of contenders at Freedom House, Mr. Ramotar seemed the most talented purveyor of latter-day rhetoric as practiced by, say, President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Party stalwart Ralph Ramkarran may be a spent force; the hurdles to win a party nomination kept him swimming upstream.  It is the intrinsic character of communist parties; they have their own version of “Victorian Order” to maintain.  It is called the “Iron Curtain.”

President Donald Ramotar has experience, party conventional wisdom now says, the intelligence and a string of excellent character references and high profile accomplishments – whatever those are.  But his greatest advantage is a style that embodies his party’s current zeitgeist.

And what is that exactly?

Well thanks to President Bharrat Jagdeo who, lately, has been crippled by anger and embarrassing, flagrant self-regard, the PPP now enjoys a slim margin.  The elections campaign has shown the world that President Jagdeo is in possession of a newly invented style of semi-intellectual attack politics that has appeals only to those with a pathological flirtation with paranoia.

His mix of vile bombast is almost contagious.  Odinga Lumumba and Kwame Mc Coy, both die hard Jagdeo-ites, have become the most outstanding representatives of this toxic stew; inserting themselves in the election process on polling day with their intolerance and denigration of their opponents.  It is the trademark of President Jagdeo at his finest.

We also found out that the name “Jagan” was spoken in vain.  Bootlegged for emotional intensity; and intended for maximum nostalgic effect, the usage of the word “Jagan” as a high octane warrior - with revolutionary temperament, and its historical, mythical references - did not matter.

Joey Jagan’s endorsement, as well as Cheddi Berret Jagan II and Vrinda Jagan’s thrust were just as difficult as dealing with a week-long old bagel.  In the history of this country, it would be hard to find a more lunatic venture than this one.

But so was Robert Persaud, Mr. Ramotar’s campaign manager who might have mistaken voters for commodities.  Robert, with his volcanic seething over his party’s anti-climax, turned against voters who had turned against his party.  His public bluster, seemingly to mourn the PPP’s loss; and to lambaste runaway votes was the depth of his introspection.

But Robert Persaud may not have too much time for any soul searching.  The invention of a new ministry in which he heads will present many challenges in terms of the noxious emissions from the filthy rich. 

Notwithstanding that, we have to admit to the fact that the political philosophy of Apan Jhaat is alive and well; it has spoken again this election.

And one shouldn’t forget about the guy who sold Jesus to the PPP.  In a cruel irony of things, Bishop Juan Edghill has been flung to stardom somewhere in the Ministry of Finance in which his zero academic training and experience will move the nation into more mediocrity.  Don’t forget: treasurer of the disciples, Judas was given his fair share of the deal when he received his 30 pieces of silver; he bought a piece of rope with it.  Stop me if you have heard that story before.

Then ask the Public Service Commission.  The Private Sector Commission (PSC), a well-known adjunct goon of the PPP during the elections, through its “arrogance” chief Ramesh Dookhoo, suspected something real cheesy at the elections results - something that goes by the popular nickname “shared governance;” and pointedly snarled at the prospects.  This gentleman was not alone; his buddy Gerry Gouveia stood by him.

The PSC’s disagreement was disguised in a smart diversionary tactic in which the fraternity suggested to the APNU protestors to go home and start spending for the holiday season.  Not a bad idea at all, so far as arrogance and foolishness are not yet against the law.

The air is thick with disappointment.  And what the PSC is not willing to admit to the protestors is the fact that they are in bed together with the PPP, colluding for power and profit at the expense of the little guys who turn out now to be demonstrators.

We also came to learn that climate change could get things really wild and wet. GECOM top man, Dr. Steve Surujbally came under the weather just after the polls, blaming the “floods,” then spent three days figuring out who won while pondering if the PPP really lost.  Isn’t that a bit too funky?  No wonder, protestors were standing at his front door.

For Dr. Surujbally, this GECOM mess is not going away.  The break-in at Coldingen has definitely compromise security, and Dr. Surujbally can speak forever about the integrity of the ballot boxes and blabber on and on, but the idea that he is a double agent is catching on.

And just in case you don’t get it … Dr. Prem Misir, party wiseguy and attack dog, dispatched good warning for those who think the opposition can stranglehold the PPP and hold them hostage in parliament.  He reminded us that President Donald Ramotar is the holder of “veto powers in the interest of the nation.”  All well and fair.

But it raises a few interesting observations and questions.  Can President Donald Ramotar prevail with a deadlock in parliament?  How long can he hold on to power with “veto” after “veto.”   Can President Ramotar appreciate the possibility that his “veto” powers can boomerang?

It is a frightening prospect.  AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan gave notice that he will be part of a combined parliamentary majority, going after corrupt public and government officials.  Now that is real jittery business, if you are a PPP crony, a PPP scam artist parading as contractor, minister, etc. etc.  There are strains of a PPP big wig name that come to mind. But, in any case, it is a good start for “collaboration and cooperation.”

And since we’re back to “collaboration and cooperation,” here’s cheers to President Donald Ramotar’s new cabinet that reflects his vision of moving the country forward.  Moving to celebrity status, based on his magnificent performance at fiasco, particularly President Jagdeo’s libel case against Freddie Kissoon, is the new Attorney General of Guyana, Anil Nandlall.

Tada.  Oh please!  The jury is in on this world headline.  But, yes, go ahead and laugh but while you’re it, make the applicable lyrical change to the Song of Guyana’s Children: Backwards, backwards may we ever go…

And woman, hold your head and cry.  Clement Rohee is back.  If you were looking, again, for exquisite order in the chaos, a kind of ghetto formality and gangsta surrealism that resists the force of integration with a sort of A-Hole super determination, then Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, is your kind of man.  The recent shooting of demonstrators is a good head’s up.

The list is long - and corny.  It represents what most observers equate with cronyism, nepotism, favoritism and narrow partisan politics aimed at making Guyana a bigger disgrace at the international platform.  This cabinet sets the standard and mood for misadventure, another experiment at winner-takes-all politics, at a time when voices from across the spectrum are clamoring for change.

So how does it look for this “Partnership” that president Donald Ramotar is yapping about?  Given what history has taught us about the PPP and its authenticity when it comes to unity or coalition, President Ramotar will have to really have to go on a limb.

The moves he makes now will determine how much of a “partnership” he wants.  Or how much of a headache he can handle.