Latest update January 9th, 2025 4:10 AM
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I feel deeply worried about the fate of small parties
If the new parties amalgamate, they will be stronger than their separate, individual existence. I am voting for one of the smaller entities but would definitely campaign for the unity slate if they combine. But you have to feel sorry for these newcomers.
Frederick Kissoon
Most Guyanese you talk with are cynical, suspicious or dismissive of recent political formations because of what the AFC turned out to be. I get these sentiments not almost every day, but every day. I don’t want to publicise negative vibes I am getting about these recent entities because the hateful remarks are not directed at any particular newcomer but to the way people see how the third force – the AFC– behaved since coming to power in 2015.
The sentiment is why should we trust these third parties that are promising to curtail the ambitions of the two traditional leviathans when the AFC did just that and turned out to be a sycophant for one of them.
Experienced politicians like Ralph Ramkarran and Henry Jeffrey have to be aware of this and Ramkarran so far is the only one to directly comment on this difficulty.
Ruel Johnson was in the AFC and has now formed his own party so he should know that just as he is disillusioned with what the AFC turned out to be, there are thousands like him. Johnson chose to form his own organisation for the 2020 encounter but there are countless numbers out there that will say that they tried the AFC and they are either voting for PPP or PNC or staying home.
With the tragedy of the AFC hanging over the newcomers’ heads, it is an insurmountable road. The pathway is formidable to manoeuvre but it is not impossible.
Let us pick out some factors that will make life nervous for the recent arrivals. First, the no confidence vote (NCV) has deepened ethnic suspicion.
African Guyanese felt that the Indian-led PPP connived to derail the five-year tenure of their party, the PNC. Secondly, the tensions and quarrels the NCV generated have led many independent voices that supported the AFC from 2006 to return to the PPP and PNC.
Some top names in Guyana who were always independent in their praxis are openly in support of a PNC continuation after 2020 and a PPP victory in 2020.
Thirdly, that enormous number, the young people that is, have become disenchanted with politics because of what the AFC and David Granger turned out to be. They feel the AFC threw away its potential to change Guyana and David Granger is not a placating, transformative man that can be trusted to democratise governance.
These difficulties I am sure all the newcomers are aware of. The only small organism that may escape these headaches is Lennox Shuman’s Justice and Liberal Party, which appeals directly to the Amerindians. Amerindians see that entity as an Amerindian force.
They have never been an Amerindian led formation and it may attract the attention of the Indigenous people. Shuman will die a natural death if he merges with either the PPP or PNC. The Amerindians will not vote for him.
There are three directions the small parties have to travel in. First as a matter of survival, they have to merge. Egos will have to be tempered and there have to be concessions and compromises. I am suggesting a name like ROG – Renewal of Guyana, or ROG – Rebirth of Guyana. Whatever name they choose, they have to come together. It is a matter of life and death.
Secondly, they have to start campaigning right now and by right now, I mean as soon as yesterday. Guyana has an onerously complex electoral system. You have to contest in six of the ten Regions.
You must get a large number of electors to endorse each candidate. You must have a certain percentage of women on the party list.
It is only through early campaigning that you will overcome these nightmarish requirements. People will get to know the party leaders. Party leaders will ground with the people. Out of this should come some level of needed support.
Thirdly, money will have to be acquired. This is a large country where for the third party every vote will count. Campaigning in Guyana is an expensive affair. One easy way out of this financial horror show is to avoid Regions where the third party will not get many votes and where the voters are not plentiful so it is no point wasting money in those areas.
The third party needs three seats to tame the PNC and PPP. They can get them if they start now.
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