Hard road to travel

Apr 01, 2025 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

Kaieteur News- With general and regional elections due this year and could be called at any time now, the opposition parties are in a mad scramble to put together the coalition that brought them victory at the 2015 polls before they lost power in 2020.

Much has been said about their attempt to rig the 2020 elections. A case has been filed and is currently before the courts. A commission of inquiry was also held and made some sweeping conclusions. However, what is before us is the AFC and the PNCR trying to rekindle their love for each other, this time not without problems, as is expected in these types of discussions. What is unfortunate is that leaders on both sides have not guarded the sanctity of their talks, so details of their discussions are now matters of public discourse. What this has done is expose inherent weaknesses in both camps and also add to the frustrations of many of their supporters.

It is also an indictment on the two groups that, since 2020, they are only now working out arrangements for a possible coalition to contest the upcoming elections. Many of their supporters have quite rightly questioned what were they doing for the past four years that has resulted in them now, almost at the 11^th hour, trying to hammer out a deal. The current opposition, whether they are in Parliament or on the streets, has been lacklustre at best. Their activism has been slow and uninspiring, and it is difficult to say that they were too busy to tie the knot.

We do know that successful coalition building is not a walk in the park and although there has been some semblance of a working relationship between the two parties since 2015, there have been a lot of instances when, to the ordinary citizens, the marriage appeared to have already been dissolved. Just this past weekend, some of the comments from senior members in both camps on the AFC’s 60-40 proposal have left much to be desired. The way they spoke about each other appeared to have left little room for any negotiation or a working relationship.

The process of building a coalition begins with recognising that there are areas of compatible interests in the several groups around the table. While this sometimes occurs naturally, most times there is the need for one or more groups to take the lead in persuading others that a coalition would be to their benefit. The interests would have to be stated upfront; in our present milieu, for instance, some parties may be more interested in becoming the major political opposition rather than removing the government.
In addition to having a commonality of interests, the groups would have to be convinced that by working together, they can achieve the goal of achieving office more expeditiously. But more pertinently, that the benefits of coalescing would outweigh the costs. This latter contingency has been the sticking point in the ongoing talks in the opposition ranks. There is a strong feeling from some quarters that the “baggage” of the PNC from their years in government is too great a burden to be shared, while the PNCR cannot forget the betrayal by an AFC MP who voted to bring down the coalition government in 2018. In such cases, incentives might have to be offered. There have been suggestions from within and without the political opposition that the PNC forgo the leadership of any ensuing coalition to address such concerns, and the idea of a consensus candidate has been floated. Equally, many persons are of the view that the AFC should not be trusted to head the coalition, given its track record. Against the background of our political history, it is not unreasonable that the PNC may suspect that under the cover of the stated concerns, efforts are afoot to miniaturise, if not supplant, its role. As the PNCR leader, Aubrey Norton has stated before, while the party is committed to working towards a coalition, “we ain’t guh leh nobadee mek deh eyes pass we.” He insisted that the PNCR is well aware that they are better together, but is also “well aware that we carry the burden of the work.”

A coalition has a host of benefits in presenting an alternative in politics: the breadth offered by the several partners garners wider support; greater expertise and resources are brought to bear on complex issues; new leaders can be identified and encouraged, and a lasting base for change can be forged.
In the latter instance, once the groups work together, it becomes more difficult for others to dismiss members’ efforts as “special interests”. Most significantly for our local political culture, however, in the consensus-building efforts that are a permanent characteristic of successful coalitions, respect for each other’s differences has to be forged as a prerequisite. One problem with the ongoing efforts that has cropped up is the effects of the disequilibrium of size. No matter how one slices it, the PNC will be the major partner in any block to be formed and should be allowed to at least call the shots.

 

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