Formation of political parties should not be viewed as vehicles solely for personal ambition and political opportunism

Oct 30, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

It is arguably the norm, in most liberal democracies around the world, with the likely exception of many European countries and some others like Israel, that two political parties generally dominate the political landscape although several smaller parties may enjoin the electoral contest from time to time and Guyana, like the rest of the Caribbean, is no exception to this general occurrence.
In the last 6 general elections beginning in 1992 several political parties have been on the ballot; 11 (1992), 10 (1997), 8 (2001), 6 (2006), 4 (2011) and 6 (2015) and, except for the 2 main political parties (PPP/C and PNC – APNU+AFC) only one of the other 20, or so, political parties has secured more than 3% of the popular vote and that is the AFC which attracted 8.4% and 10.32% support in 2006 and 2011 respectively. The AFC’s success in 2011 denied a popular victory to the main political parties but did not deny the PPP/C the Presidency. The other parties have, during this period, (1992-2015) won a total of 10 seats out of 366; WPA/GAP-WPA/GAP-ROAR/ROAR (6 seats) and TUF (4 seats) and most of them have merged with either of the major parties and are likely to be replaced by newly-minted parties to challenge the 2020 elections.
I make these observations not to discourage the goals and ambitions of these actors whose participation is essential to the well-being of a functioning and developing democracy but to illustrate that while their participation have always been numerically significant their political impact have been generally less so, except for the singular achievement of the AFC which success in 2006 and 2011 demonstrate the contrasting effects of a significant third party on the abilities of the dominant duo. The PPP/C, in 2006, won its largest ever electoral victory (36/65 seats) and therefore the fracturing of the opposition support – PNC/R (22 seats), AFC (5 seats) GAP/ROAR (1 seat) and TUF (1 seat) – could not restrict, but rather, strengthened the PPP/C’s control of the state. In 2006, however, the AFC’s vote was able to deny the PPP/C control of the legislature (not the executive) and ultimately force a curtailment of its tenure.
The Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 of the Laws of Guyana set out, under Article 11, the basic requirements for contesting our General and Regional elections. A party contesting these elections must also contest a minimum of 6 of the 10 geographical constituencies and at least 13 of the 25 available seats and is required to submit a list of 42 candidates for the national top-up list comprising at least 14 women, accompanied by individual statutory declarations stating their qualifications and consent. Separate lists of candidates and accompanying statutory declarations for each geographical constituency numbering two more than the number of seats assigned to that geographical constituency are also required. The national top-up List of Candidates is to be submitted by at least 330 persons and by 150-175 persons for each geographical constituency. This would mean that a political party, contesting in 6 geographical constituencies, would need to field a minimum of 65 candidates who are endorsed by at least 1230 persons while a nation-wide party would need to field 97 candidates supported by at least 1500 persons. In the 2015 General and Regional elections all of the 4 small parties – TUF (1,099), Independent Party (342), National Independent Party (254) and United Republican Party (418) – received even less electoral support. This was also the case in 2011 when TUF received 885 votes.
The apparent lack of support for small parties is not symptomatic of political immaturity or failures of democracy, and two-party dominance with the attendant rancor and intense competition is the norm rather than the exception worldwide. I suggest that the desire for third-party success, as expressed by some, is largely a reaction to the protracted dominance of one party over the other as illustrated by PNC control of the state for 28 successive years followed by the PPP/C’s 23-year reign which separates Guyana from the rest of the Caribbean and most of the world and the responsibility for addressing this concern is an unfair and impossible burden to be placed on the small parties. Some attempts have been made through earlier constitutional reform and the imposition of term limits and suggestions have been made regarding campaign finance reform and the opening up of the state media to all contestants though ultimately the success of new and emerging parties would be determined by a genuine commitment to issues affecting specific constituencies displayed by determined and consistent advocacy and support over time. It cannot help if the formation of political parties is viewed as vehicles solely for personal ambition and political opportunism.

Sincerely,
Oscar Dolphin

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