LGE AND VOTER APATHY

Nov 30, 2018 Editorial

The Local Government Elections (LGE) are over and as expected, the PPP is gloating about its resounding victory and what it means for the general elections in 2020. The PPP leaders feel that the party is in a good position to win the next general elections.
However, some in APNU have contended that the PPP victory in the LGE is not as big as the victory won by the APNU+AFC at the May 2015 general elections. They opined that the PPP should not rule out APNU+AFC in 2020 because of the LGE results.
The people have spoken; 64 percent of the electorate, mostly youths did not vote. Many viewed the LGE results as a litmus test for the coalition, but the low turnout seems to be a rejection of and a wake-up call for the political parties, especially the governing coalition.
While the turnout was awful, the PPP made sure that its supporters went to the polls, whereas, many of APNU supporters stayed home.
The split between APNU and the AFC provided the PPP with the opportunity to reclaim the votes in West Coast Berbice and on the Corentyne which went to the AFC in the 2011 and 2015 general elections. Many believe that the AFC has lost the confidence of the people, thus leaving the door wide open for a viable, independent third party to contest the elections in 2020.
The low voter turnout has brought to the fore the issue of voter apathy. It has demonstrated that real power resides with the people. But it is remarkable that it took 23 years for the PPP, which has been deemed corrupt by the public while in office, to lose the 2015 general election against six coalition parties by a mere 4,506 votes and one seat in Parliament.
The race vote was disrupted. There was a sizeable turnout at the polls in 2015 but many were disillusioned and stayed away. This was compounded by the movement of people to the new party, the Alliance For Change, something that affected both of the major parties.
Of interest was the belief by the PPP that it could never lose an election in Guyana. It was certain that the ethnic superiority of one race group would keep that party in office.
Yet it did not take things lightly; it allowed for some sleight of hand. There were changed statements of poll and the like. Even in 2015 there was an attempt to slip fake statements of poll into the count.
But for all that, it seems that APNU and the AFC are in a political trap characterized by complacency of their supporters.
The PPP was in the same boat when it was defeated in the May 2015 general election.
This time around more of its supporters voted in the LGE. APNU faced the disillusionment of some of its supporters was supposed to be obliterated at the polls, but its strong showing in its strongholds and in places dominated by the PPP, despite the fact that many of its supporters did not vote, proved otherwise.
Some feel that since taking office in May 2015, both APNU and the AFC have not only abandoned many of their supporters, but have also lost contact with them. They did not fulfill most of their promises or provided good governance.
There was the accusation that they were not as accountable and as transparent as promised. With the general elections less than two years away, it is up to APNU+AFC the coalition can still deliver on most of its promises. The 2019 budget seems to have set the tone for the new direction of the coalition.

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