WHERE WILL THE AFC FIND THESE PARLIAMENTARIANS?

Mar 04, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

They are going wild with excitement in the boroughs of New York, Toronto and London. And it is not about the imminent fall of the Libyan leader. In fact, it is not about Libya at all. Guyana is the source of all the excitement.
After all, what could be better for overseas-based Guyanese than the Alliance For Change setting aside two seats for them in parliament. But it gets better. They are also going to enjoy representation in the government should the AFC win the elections.
Now one can only hope that the excitement with which this promise has been received will be matched by contributions to the AFC’s campaign, because most other parties raise the bulk of their campaign funds in Guyana, and they have never felt under any obligation to reserve one, much less two, seats for their constituents in Region 11. So this great gesture by the AFC deserves to be rewarded.
The AFC is acting on the assumption that it will win the election. This is being quite bold on their part. Most Guyanese want these elections to come and go, because most of them feel that they already know the outcome and therefore are not eager to go through all the anxieties that go along with elections in Guyana. Why go through all that trouble when so many feel that the result is a foregone conclusion.
The AFC, however, as it must, is not conceding anything. It believes that it can win the elections. And if it wins, it will set aside two parliamentary seats for Guyanese in the Diaspora.
At the last elections, the AFC believed that it won six seats but was awarded five. So even if it repeats its performance at the last elections, it should still have three seats to allocate to all those local activists who will be doing most of the work to ensure the party gets back into parliament.
On the other hand, it will have to have eligible persons from the Diaspora to become its new parliamentary representatives. But where will it find these persons from?
In order to be elected to the National Assembly, a person must be a candidate on a party list. It should not be too difficult to find two such persons. Those persons would be required to be registered in Guyana, and this may pose a problem. How many of those Guyanese living outside, who are willing to come back to Guyana and be part of the AFC’s team, have been registered?
You will find a few thousand registered in Guyana who have migrated and now live overseas. From this you have to extract those who will be willing to support the AFC.
This is where the numbers will decline to a few hundreds at best. Then from this grouping you have to find those who are willing to come back to Guyana. Many of these overseas-based Guyanese have responsibilities. They have jobs; they are hoping to get pension and social security; they have kids at school and college. Really, as much as they support a political party, how many are likely to leave to re-migrate to Guyana? The eligible number becomes smaller. Then from this smaller grouping, you have to find those willing to serve as parliamentarians. The number can now be counted on a few hands.
Then you have to ask how many of these are willing to renounce their foreign citizenship, because in order to be a member of the National Assembly you cannot swear loyalty to a foreign power. The numbers are now down to a few fingers and from these you have to decide who is suited, and who the AFC executive agrees to select. Having gone through this process, it is not that a suitable person meeting all the characteristics outlined above can be found.
The AFC must also, in making this proposal, believe that it will retain or increase its representation in the National Assembly. But what happens if instead of winning five or more seats, the AFC only secures two seats?
Does this mean that its presidential candidate and prime ministerial candidate will give up those seats to overseas-based parliamentarians?
The AFC has to be thinking about winning, and there is no reason why it should not do better than it did at the last elections. But it has to be careful to make proposals that are realistic.
Otherwise it could end up confusing the thousands in Guyana who may be willing to give it another chance and who expect a greater share of the spoils of victory.
Instead of therefore saying that it will allocate two seats to overseas-based Guyanese, the AFC should commit to a percentage, say 20%. This means that even if it wins 5 seats at the next elections, it will still be able to offer one seat to those on whom it depends financially.

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WHERE WILL THE AFC FIND THESE PARLIAMENTARIANS?

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