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Nov 19, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

What happened in Victoria the other night was a direct result of the failure of APNU to condemn what happened in Buxton when a large contingent of supporters of the main opposition partnership descended on a PPP meeting.
The same thing happened in Victoria. A large contingent of poster- waving APNU supporters descended on a PPPC meeting in Victoria and set about disrupting that meeting.
There were conflicting versions of what happened afterwards but the behaviour of the APNU supporters should be condemned and should be a subject in the review of the election by the international and local observer mission.
Had APNU done the right thing and condemned what took place earlier in Buxton, had it disassociated itself from such unacceptable conduct, it could have avoided the fall out from this most recent trouble-making.
Not having done so, APNU has left itself open to criticism that its silence may encourage similar actions as the campaign comes to an end in just over one week’s time.
Instead of condemning the invasion and disruption of the PPPC meeting in Buxton, one person associated with APNU went so far as to say that it was an expression of frustration. If there was any frustration at all it was orchestrated frustration set in motion by an workable strategy to win the elections. That is where the frustration is; it is frustration at the possible outcome of the elections.
APNU cannot now be taken seriously when it continues to mouth nonsense about a government of national unity. If supporters of APNU can show such intolerance towards a meeting of the ruling party, and if APNU has failed to condemn the excesses of its supporters why does it expect that anyone will take seriously that it is interested in national unity.
APNU is interested in national unity and yet its supporters are not even allowing the ruling party to have its say in constituencies which APNU knows it cannot lose.
APNU has been nicknamed A Partnership Nobody Understands, but it could also now mean A Partnership Not about Unity because how is APNU going to convince anyone that it is willing to sit around the same table with that grouping when it is unwilling to even allow its rivals to have their say in certain constituencies.
The confrontations that have taken place in Buxton and Victoria also signal another sickening development. It demonstrates that there are those who still wish to control the minds of their supporters to the extent that they are fearful that these supporters will hear the truth from other parties.
These supporters are not being allowed to hear all sides of the political debate. Those that disrupted the meetings at Buxton and Victoria are also saying something else. They are saying that they control those villages and they will not allow any criticism of their won efforts.
APNU will do well in the elections but the writing is on the wall. The PPP is on its way to secure victory. There is going to be efforts to downplay this fact but the numbers on the opinion polls tell their own story and even if someone wanted to query those numbers, then there is always the fact that the opposition with only ten days to go for the elections is yet to reveal its masterpiece, the lost sought after manifesto of the party.
This is yet another example of an incompetent strategy on the part of APNU. Imagine APNU is complaining about voter education, yet to date it has not produced its manifesto. Any late unveiling of this document is going to hurt the partnership because there will not be sufficient time for the people to begin to understand just what APNU is about.
In fact, the way APNU is approaching these last ten days of the elections make one wonder just when it is going to step in stride. APNU like the PPPC may be bracing for one last big meeting when it will rally its troops.
But if the elections are supposed to be about policies and not about traditional party loyalties, then why is APNU waiting until the last minute to outline its manifesto.
Even if this is its trump card, it is coming out much too late to have the maximum effect on the electorate, that is assuming that a manifesto is in the making.

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