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Guyana’s Opposition needs a bigger table and it needs it now
Dear Editor
As WIN and APNU edge toward a coalition, the old pattern is returning: 2 leaders, a private deal, a press release after the fact. That formula has failed for 20 years and can’t be repeated in 2030. So far, the public has only heard that a Joint Statement, Terms of Reference, and MOU are “forthcoming.” A nation deserves leadership in the open, not paperwork promises.
- Two-party deals keep losing. The 2022 APNU-AFC collapse came down to backroom disputes over leadership and seats — the public learned the details only through journalism, not disclosure. The same dynamic is resurfacing now over meeting locations and who’s being excluded. Repeating this approach and expecting a different result is habit, not strategy.
- The math rewards width. Seat allocation favours whoever brings the most votes to the table, not whoever wins an internal argument. Building the broadest coalition now — before fights over land-titling or voting patterns emerge — is the smarter path.
- Outside voices add legitimacy. Union leaders bring turnout tied to livelihood rather than party loyalty. Constitutional experts lend legal credibility. Voices like wronged officials vindicated by courts and Ombudsman add moral weight, while Indigenous and regional leaders are essential after the Region 1 ferry disaster. Minor parties have already shown they can swing outcomes — one councillor blocked a majority in a recent regional vote.
- Speed matters most. Other oppositions have moved fast: in Thailand’s 2023 election, Move Forward and Pheu Thai agreed to a coalition the day after their win, with Move Forward proposing a 6-party, 309-seat alliance almost immediately. Guyana’s opposition, by contrast, is sitting on a “forthcoming” statement while momentum slips away.
Wider coalitions also last longer. New Zealand, Sweden, Portugal, Finland, Norway, and Denmark all formally involve unions and civic groups before finalising coalition deals — and credit this with fewer collapses and longer-lasting governments. Bottom line: Two decades of narrow deals have failed. Speed and breadth — not a private handshake — are what make coalitions win and hold. Guyana’s opposition should widen the table now, potentially reaching 44+ seats before any MOU, and past the two-thirds threshold with a strong one — but only if it acts before the window closes.
Regards,
Shabeer Zafar, Barrister
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