Irfaan Ali: Difference between revisions

{{short description|President of Guyana since 2020 (born 1980)}}

| image = Irfaan Ali, 2023in 2020.jpg

| caption = Ali in 20232020

| successor2 = [[Dickon Mitchell]]

| term_start2 = 1 January 2024
| term_end2 = 30 June 2024<ref name="caricom.org">{{Cite web |title=ROTATION SCHEDULE FOR THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE CONFERENCE 1 JANUARY 2018 TO 30 JUNE 2025 |url=https://caricom.org/wp-content/uploads/ROTATION-SCHEDULE-HGC.pdf |access-date=2023-01-08}}</ref>

*[[University of the West IndiesSalford]] ([[DoctorMaster of PhilosophyLaws|PhDLLM]])}}

'''Mohamed Irfaan Ali''' (born 25 April 1980)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://op.gov.gy/index.php/presidents-biography/ |title=President's Biography |website=Office of the President of Guyana|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref> is a [[Guyanese people|Guyanese]] politician serving as the tenth and current [[president of Guyana]] since 2020. A member of the [[People's Progressive Party/Civic]] (PPP/C), he previously served as the minister of Housing and Water from 2009 to 2015. He is the first [[Muslims|Muslim]] to hold office, and is the secondthird Muslim head of state in the [[Americas]] after [[Noor Hassanali]] of [[Trinidad and Tobago]] and [[Carlos Menem|Carlos Saul Menem]] of [[Argentina]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=CaribbeanMuslims.Com|date=3 August 2020|title=President Irfaan Ali Sworn in as Guyana's new leader|url=https://www.caribbeanmuslims.com/president-irfaan-ali-sworn-in-as-guyanas-new-leader/.|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Caribbean Muslims|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=TrakkerNews|date=4 August 2012|title=UWI honours former President Noor Hassanali|url=https://www.caribbeantrakker.com/uwi-honours-former-president-noor-hassanali/|access-date=27 February 2021|website=TrakkerNews- News all Day, Everyday.|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Yahya-Sakur|first1=Nafeeza|last2=Kurmanaev|first2=Anatoly|date=10 September 2020|title=Killings Reignite Racial Tensions in Guyana|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/world/americas/killings-guyana-racial-tension.html|access-date=27 February 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2 August 2020|title=As Guyana Gets First Practicing Muslim President, OAS Urges Weakness In Country's Electoral System To Be Addressed|url=https://www.newsamericasnow.com/caribbean-news-guyana-finally-gets-new-government/|access-date=6 August 2020|website=Americas News Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=12 August 2020|title=#BTColumn - Of Muslims and social justice|url=https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/08/12/btcolumn-of-muslims-and-social-justice/|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Barbados Today|language=en-US}}</ref>

Ali was born to an [[Indo-Guyanese]] [[Muslim]] family in [[Leonora, Guyana|Leonora]], a village in the [[Essequibo Islands-West Demerara|West Coast DemararaDemerara]] region of [[Guyana]]. The child of two educators and one of two sons, Ali also spent many of his formative years on the island of [[Leguan Island|Leguan]]. He is a former student of the Leonora Nursery and Primary schools and Cornelia Ida Primary. Ali completed his secondary education at [[St. Stanislaus College (Guyana)|St. Stanislaus College]] in [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]], Guyana.<ref name="stabroeknews.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2019/10/24/news/guyana/irfaan-ali-awarded-doctorate-of-philosophy-in-urban-and-regional-planning/ |title=Irfaan Ali awarded Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning|newspaper=Stabroek News|date=13 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://op.gov.gy/index.php/presidents-biography/ | title=Biography of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali – President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces – Office of the President }}</ref>

HeAli holds a doctorate in Urban and Regional Planning from the [[University of the West Indies]].<ref name="stabroeknews.com"/> In 2003, he completed his master's degree in Human Resource Planning Development from the National Institute of Labour Economics, affiliated with the [[Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University]], New Delhi. In 2023, the university awarded him an Honorary Doctorate.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/01/13/news/guyana/president-accorded-honorary-doctorate-from-indian-university | title=President accorded honorary doctorate from Indian university |newspaper=Stabroel News| date=13 January 2023 }}</ref> He also has a [[Master of Arts]] degree in manpower planning, a post-graduate diploma in international business, and a post-graduate certificate in finance from [[Anglia Ruskin University]], a [[Master of Law]] degree in international commercial law from the [[University of Salford]] and a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree with honours in business management from the [[University of Sunderland]].<ref>https://op.gov.gy/index.php/presidents-biography/</ref>

In September 2020, in a joint statement with the [[United States]] [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]] [[Mike Pompeo]], Ali said the two countries would begin joint maritime patrols aimed at drug interdiction near Guyana's [[GuayanaGuyana–Venezuela Esequibaterritorial dispute|disputed border]] with [[Crisis in Venezuela|crisis-stricken Venezuela]].<ref name="Jointmaritime" >[https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/09/18/news/guyana/joint-guyana-us-maritime-air-patrols-could-begin-as-early-as-monday/ Joint Guyana-US maritime, air patrols could begin as early as Monday]. 18 September 2020. ''Stabroek News''. Retrieved 19 September 2020.</ref> The agreement came as U.S. oil major [[Exxon Mobil Corp]], as part of a consortium with [[Hess Corp]], ramped up crude output from Guyana's massive offshore [[Petroleum industry in Guyana|Stabroek block]], a large portion of which is in waters claimed by Venezuela.<ref name="Jointmaritime" /> Pompeo and Ali added that "greater security, greater capacity to understand your border space, what's happening inside your Exclusive Economic Zone - those are all things that give Guyana sovereignty."<ref>Cohen, Luc (18 September 2020), [https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-guyana-launch-joint-maritime-patrols-481805 US, Guyana to Launch Joint Maritime Patrols Near Venezuela]. . ''MarineLink''. Retrieved 19 September 2020.</ref>