Former PNCR MP believes PPP/C holds advantage as incumbent
…says AFC not a national party; PNCR’s record tarnished under Corbin
FORMER parliamentarian under the PNCR Dr. Dalgleish Joseph says that while his former party still has mass reach and can do well in the elections should it use PPP/C strategies, it has lost its way under the leadership of Robert Corbin. He said the party can learn from the incumbent PPP/C on its elections campaign and victories. He also critiqued the Alliance for Change (AFC), saying that it is not a national party, but one which only rode on the waves of unfulfilled promises made to PNCR to pull votes in 2006.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle earlier in the week, the medical doctor gave his perspective on the fate of the parties contesting the upcoming general elections in Guyana, tipping the PPP/C as the party with the advantage, being the incumbent.
“The elections in Guyana have to be based on issues of governance, on equal access to resources in Guyana and benefits in Guyana. Every Guyanese has a right to participate equally in opportunities and access to resources for personal development. Those opportunities have to be enshrined in the Constitution or any other type of law. Every Guyanese must feel that they have the right to be in this country under any Government. Every Government must be able to give me – the Guyanese born in this country – the opportunity for personal development, to live peacefully in a country like ours knowing with confidence that being a Guyanese, I am confident in the Guyanese dream,” he said.
“Once your governance system provides an opportunity for every single citizen to stand and say ‘I have opportunities’ then this country would move steadfastly,” he said.
Dr. Joseph, one of the party members who chose to part ways with the PNCR in 2008, gave his views on why the PPP/C has been successful in elections over the last two decades.
“I believe that the PPP/C has demonstrated its ability to prepare, to do the necessary groundwork and to win elections. That’s what the Opposition needs to do,” he said.
“The incumbent has both the resources, financial and otherwise, to ensure that they can mount a good campaign. The PNC needs to make sure that they reach their constituency, wherever they are. This elections period does not require spending a whole lot of money with big meetings and all of that. Meet your people door to door. Sound your people out. At the end of the day, you will have a better understanding of the support and the direction of where you want to take the country should you win the elections,” he said.
Dr. Joseph said that while the PNC may seem quiet now, this may not mean that the party is not gathering momentum. He said this is the period during which the party is preparing its manifesto.
He said that there are many lessons that the PNCR can learn from the way that the PPP/C has approached elections time and time again. “The PNC still has the sufficient bright minds that are capable of analyzing the political situation in Guyana today and also developing sufficient strategies that could lead them into electoral victory,” he said.
Dr. Joseph said that the PNCR is capable of attracting key political figures that have the interest of  Guyanese at heart and is capable of winning an election and if the strategy and tactics are good, they will succeed.
He said that in relation to the other parties contesting this year’s elections, the PNCR have already shown that they have the ability to forge a platform that would allow  other key stakeholders to play important roles in its thrust to create a national front government, reflective of broad masses of Guyanese interested in playing serious roles in the development of Guyana.
However, he said that for all intents and purposes, the party has lost its path under the leadership of Robert Corbin. Dr. Joseph said that when he joined the PNC in 1997, he was satisfied with the party’s internal record in terms of governance and democracy. “I think that record has been tarnished under the leadership of Robert Corbin and that is the reason why myself and colleagues said we are not going to be a part of a party where our views and contributions were meaningless,” Joseph said.
Concerning the AFC, he said that when this party was formed, one of the fundamental things that put the AFC in Parliament was precisely because former PNC member Raphael Trotman was able to garner some number of votes because of the fact that he came out of the bowels of the PNC. “Unfortunately, a lot of the promises that the AFC made to the constituency of the PNC that they gained [were undelivered],” Dr. Joseph said.
He said that the jury is out as to whether the AFC’s current presidential candidate really secured any support that amounted to any seats that the AFC has in Parliament. “I doubt whether the AFC still has that support. It is yet to be demonstrated [that they still have] the support that they had that [got them] into Parliament in the first place,” he said.
Dr. Joseph said that in interacting with the PNCR’s constituency; most of the comments heard were that they were fooled by the AFC. “They believed that the AFC was going to win the elections because that was the campaign message, that they were going to win the elections of 2006,” he said. “So in terms of what they promised the electorate, they have not been able to do that,” he said.
“I believe that the AFC is a party that just wants to get parliamentary representation, seats in parliament. They are not a national party and they cannot muster the support to win an election,” he said. “It is foolhardy to think that the whole thrust now is winning the election and they seem to be wanting to go out on a limb by themselves. You cannot go out on a limb when you cannot guarantee or demonstrate the support that you have from among the electorate,” Dr. Joseph said.
“I believe that if you want to make a serious contribution you have to bring something to the table. If they don’t have anything to bring to the table then why partner?” he questioned.