PPP running scared

Jul 28, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – The PPP is running scared. But it’s not scared of the opposition. Not really. It’s not even scared of the small parties. The independents. The aspiring politicians with two Facebook followers and a dream. No, the PPP is terrified of shadows. And it’s looking in all the wrong places. Like a man checking under the bed for burglars while the thief walks out the front door.

The PPP’s paranoia is off the charts. It smells defeat in the breeze. Sees sabotage in every side glance. It has become authoritarian in its instincts. Intolerant of dissent. Hostile to scrutiny.

Ask the private media. They’ll tell you. Sections of the press that once defended democracy now find themselves on the PPP’s blacklist. Why? For doing their jobs. Because even fair criticism now counts as treason in Freedom House’s book.

But it wasn’t the media that hurt the PPP. It wasn’t the critics. The bloggers. The letter-writers. It was the PPP itself. The party created its own monster. And the name of that monster? The revitalized PNCR. Yes. The PNCR. A party that was on life support after 2020. Until Bharrat Jagdeo decided to host weekly press conferences. He thought he was weakening the opposition. What he actually did was give it CPR. Jagdeo dragged the PNCR back into relevance. He gave them visibility. Gave their arguments air. Week after week. Clip after clip. Every soundbite made its way back into the PNCR base. And they lapped it up.

The angry base became angrier as Jagdeo became more belligerent. The demoralized base became energized. And the supporters in PNCR strongholds, from being demoralized became galvanized. In the last local government elections, they didn’t roll over. They held on to their municipalities and did so handsomely. One municipality was swept clean by the PNCR. And Jagdeo has only himself to blame. His press conferences were a gift to the opposition. But he keeps giving. He can’t stop. Won’t stop. And it’s costing the PPP dearly.

Now the PPP is in a panic. Again. The PNCR is no longer in the wilderness. It’s back in the game. So every single vote counts. And this is where the PPP’s paranoia gets worse. Suddenly, everyone is a threat. The PPP is going after all potential threats. With venom. With vengeance. As if each one holds the key to the PPP’s downfall. But they don’t.

Because the real threat is not the small fry. It’s not the lone voices or the third parties. It’s the people with money. Yes, the PPP’s biggest threat is not political. It’s financial. It’s the PPP’s own backers. The business elite. The same ones who fund their campaigns. The same ones who smile in their faces. Shake their hands. Toast their achievements. Then write cheques for the other side. Because the business class doesn’t believe in loyalty. It believes in insurance. And when the race looks close, they hedge their bets. They prepare two envelopes. The bigger one goes to the PPP. The smaller one to the PNCR. Just in case. They want to be on the right side. Whichever side wins. It’s smart. It’s cynical. It’s business. And it’s dangerous.

Because that second envelope could make all the difference. It can pay for a ground campaign. Billboards. Buses.  Campaign jerseys. It can mobilize a base that was already re-energized. The PPP should know this. They’ve benefited from those same envelopes. But now they have to wonder. Are the hands that fed them feeding someone else, too?

That’s where the betrayal lies. Not in small parties. Not the independents. Not in critics. Not in the media. But in the manicured hands of their own financiers. The ones who sip champagne at state functions. Then fund the next campaign to unseat them. It’s poetic. The PPP fed the tiger. Now it watches the tiger feed the enemy. And there’s nothing it can do. Because it needs the tiger too. Because you can’t fight the business class. You can’t expose them. Can’t drag them through the mud. Because you still need them. Still need their cheques. Still need their media houses. Their billboards. Their TV stations. So the PPP lashes out at the easier targets. The defenceless ones. The independent candidates. The critical journalists. The lone voices. It bullies the weak because it fears the powerful.

And that’s the tragedy. The PPP sees enemies everywhere—except the ones who actually pose a threat. The ones in suits. Not shirts. In air-conditioned boardrooms. Not street corners. The PPP is chasing ghosts. While the real traitors toast their profits. And write their next cheque. With a wink. And two envelopes.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)   

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• Guyana Elections, Peeping Tom, PPP, running, scared

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