Peter could be the next Mayor of Georgetown

Jun 12, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

It was natural for Peter to have found his way into the Alliance For Change (AFC). It was also inevitable that Guyana’s foremost political jumping jack would eventually find a place in a party with which he shares an ideological affinity.

We must wait to see how long this marriage will last. His previous flirtation with the PNCR was short-lived, and hastened no doubt by the demise of former Leader of the PNCR, Desmond Hoyte.
That was doomed to end, given the private opposition that was harboured within the PNCR against the Reform component.
With Hoyte gone, Peter could no longer fit into that party and eventually signaled that he was forming his own movement, something called Vision Guyana, to contest the 2011 election. He may still do so. It is not certain how long this arrangement will last. And if Peter’s own record is anything to go by, he may still be able to contest the 2011 elections under his own, one-man movement called Vision Guyana banner.
We must however thank Peter and the Alliance For Change for bringing us this latest political innovation. We now have a political party, which is not a body corporate, with a Chief Executive Officer.
The tradition in Guyana within the PPP and the PNCR is for the party’s chief executive to be called the General Secretary.

The title of Chief Executive Officer is a rather glamorous brand for an Office Manager. Peter however is not likely to be a laid back manager. He is likely to play a proactive role in the Alliance For Change. Already he has signaled this by appearing on the weekly AFC television programme, and at a press conference hosted by the AFC. During both he expressed his views forthrightly.
His alliance with the AFC comes at an interesting time. Local government elections are slated to be held in the latter part of this year and the Alliance For Change can benefit from the managerial abilities of Peter.

He is likely to take a serious weight off of the existing leadership since he has the reach and contacts that would allow him to coordinate their local government campaign in the towns without the main leaders of the AFC having to take time-off from their otherwise busy schedules to engage in long-term campaigning. He can also develop a strategic plan for the AFC for those elections.
The AFC is essentially a middle-class party, which has never publicly admitted that it is a capitalist party. This alliance with Peter’s Vision Guyana is as best a confirmation of what has been known for some time, that the AFC is a pro-western party masquerading as an alternative to the two mass–based political parties, the PPP and the PNCR.

The AFC is not likely to ever penetrate into the working class support bases of either party. And because of its middle-class bias it is likely to do well, as it did in the last elections within the towns.
No credibility should be given to those who see his involvement with the AFC as allowing for that party to win over East Indian voters. The AFC is middle-class party and this is where it will draw support. It is a class-based rather than a race-based party and thus, Peter’s inclusion in the AFC will not feature in terms of ethnic politics. Peter’s value to the AFC is most likely in respect to local government elections.
The forthcoming local government elections could, with Peter on board, see the Alliance For Change winning Linden and Georgetown. And with one leader of the AFC coming from New Amsterdam, the AFC could easily also win that municipality.

Peter also has important linkages with sports in towns such as Rose Hall, and therefore with a number of new parties and independents running for local government elections in the towns, the AFC could well emerge as a major winner in those elections.
If this holds true to script, then Peter could well find himself elevated from Chief Executive Officer to Mayor of Georgetown, his crowning political achievement and something that would be well worth the time, effort and money that he has committed since his return to Guyana.
Peter would make a very good Mayor, even though sometimes one suspects that his sights are much higher. He could certainly put his many ideas to work and use his experience in living in the United States to use in creating a modern municipality, one run along corporate lines.
After the problems with the assorted chips, the 411-television show and the packaging plant, Peter could well do with a more settled and stable political involvement.
In this respect, his alliance with the AFC may well be more to his advantage than to that of the party.