APNU/PNC’s betrayal of the AFC will backfire spectacularly

Apr 23, 2012 Letters

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Dear Editor,
APNU/PNC and the AFC exhibited their full political naivete and inability to comprehend the Machiavellian complex that operates within the PPP. The PPP may be overrun by incompetent dunces and corrupt pilferers but there is one area this party still dominates the political sphere in; machiavellianism, cunning and chicanery. When it comes to using nefarious means to extract desired results, the PPP is a one-eyed monster operating in a blind man’ country with the AFC and APNU/PNC around.
This past week was like taking candy from babies for the PPP. It is a prime example of the perfect set-up, the finest head fake the PPP was able to execute against these shallow political parties. The PPP is playing these opposition jokers like a pack of cards stacked with jokers. For the few in this country who understand realpolitik, cunning and political intrigue, they understand what happened here.
APNU/PNC is primarily to blame here. While the AFC’s hardline stance on many aspects of the budget was evidence of the failure of its leadership to be flexible, APNU/PNC should have tried to seriously engage the AFC to get it to moderate its position. It didn’t.
The end result would have been a combined opposition offer that showed opposition unity and that delivered moderate cuts targeted at the areas that should really be hammered such as ‘fat cat’ salaries for PPP cronies and friends. Instead the PNC/APNU disrespected the AFC and went behind its back to get into bed with the PPP. Kudos to the PPP for this tactical masterpiece. The PPP’s inner circle has many former PNC types.
Thus, the PPP intimately knows how the PNC/APNU operates and thinks. This is why the PPP always makes a fool of APNU/PNC. The PPP figured out how to get what it wanted. What it wanted was to divide the opposition and split the PNC/APNU and the AFC. It accomplished this by using the PNC/APNU.
The PPP set up the PNC/APNU by taking a hardline on the preparation of the budget initially. Doing this meant the PNC/APNU felt that any concessions from the PPP thereafter would be like gold. They did not expect to get anything from the PPP. The PPP pushed the fruit so far up the tree that when it came offering insignificant fruits like $1900 more per month for pensioners, the PNC/APNU went wild thinking it was getting good fruits since any fruit was better than no fruit in its mind.
The PPP got the PNC/APNU to meet with it in secret after excluding the AFC by ‘bad-talking’ the AFC and noting it was an impediment to settlement and by stating that it preferred to deal with the PNC/APNU than with the AFC. Classic divide and rule tactics. The PNC/APNU fell for it like an infant falling for a wound-up toy.
The PNC/APNU sold the AFC down the river for a few pieces of brass thinly coated in silver. The problem with the PNC/APNU doing this nasty piece of work is it will need a paddle and a boat to navigate this river over the next four and a half years. The AFC may not give it that boat or paddle.
APNU/PNC is playing a dirty dangerous political game in giving itself away so freely to the PPP. Its constituency comprised of mainly Africans did not ask for this game. The people want cooperation but not selling out. Most definitely, they did not vote for APNU/PNC to sell out its opposition partner when there is a four and a half year road ahead. The PPP was not really targeting the PNC/APNU here.
As long as race voting continues, the PPP knows the numbers will always see the PNC/APNU come second to it in any free and fair election. This secret talk manoeuvre was instigated by the PPP to cut the throat of the AFC, its biggest threat. As long as Nagamootoo remains in the AFC and the former PPP-ites continue in the AFC, the AFC remains a threat to split the Indian vote and to snare some of those Amerindian and Mixed voters the PPP obtains.
Because of these reasons, the AFC is the biggest threat to the PPP. Not the PNC/APNU. If the PNC/APNU continues this turncoat behaviour and continue to backstab the AFC, it may end up vanishing the AFC from the political scene but it must know that those Indian, Mixed and Amerindian PPP voters who switched to the AFC will return right back to the PPP, giving it majority upon majority while the PNC/APNU keeps getting sloppy seconds.
PPP budgets will be passed without any need for deal-making and life will return to its elected dictatorship status. The PNC/APNU has to be truly dumb to not see how this would unfold. Its betrayal of the AFC is a danger to its own political future. This is not an organization with any kind of perceptive capacity. It is run by a bunch of misfits who are only able to think short term without seeing the forest for the trees.
The PNC/APNU is a disgrace to its supporters, and Africans in particular. Africans needs new leadership away from the PNC/APNU. I am not done in exposing the stupidity of the PNC/APNU in this deal-making nonsense with the PPP. I will write again on how this party is a shocking disgrace for an opposition party.
M. Maxwell

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