AS the election momentum picks up, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and presidential candidate has announced that the party is ready for the polls many believe would be held sometime in October/November.
This is not surprising, because the 60-year old party is a battle- seasoned one and has a well oiled election machinery ever since its first victory in 1953. What it outstrips every other party in this country with is its ability to maintain its contact with the grassroot people and this is done through house to house campaigns whereby its thousands of foot soldiers across the country interact with people on a one on one basis. Those who are old enough would remember right here in Georgetown the late General Secretary and President Dr. Cheddi Jagan going himself on these house to house campaigns selling party literature and listening to problems affecting people and putting over his party’s proposed solutions to these problems as well as national problems.
When the PPP/C‘s impressive record of achievements is added to the equation, the chances of its victory at the polls perhaps would become undebatable.
Over its long period the party has learnt that the road to political victory has no short cuts -it is hard, patient, persistent and determined work among the masses and it has stood by this principle unflinchingly and this no doubt has enabled it to remain Guyana’s strongest and most durable political force. Its 28-year period in opposition due to rigged elections is testimony to this, because whilst all the other political parties crumbled, it has stood out as a political Colossus of Guyana and remains so to this day. In addition, the late leader of the PNCR and former President Desmond Hoyte had predicted that the government on assumption to office in 1992 would not last two years in government. This prediction perhaps was made because of his planned destabilisation through his infamous “sloh fire moh fire” and “kith and kin” campaign. However, the PPP/C government is still there and is likely to return to office.
On the other hand, the main opposition party, the People’s National Congress Reform which seems to be in disarray and disorganized state has now teamed up with a group of parties which commands no support in Guyana in the hope of gaining victory. It should be recalled that the PNC has never won an election in Guyana.
This coalition no doubt has been influenced by what happened in Trinidad and Tobago, but what the current coalition partners fail to see is that the Trinidad and Tobago coalition was not united on removal of the PNM from office. Instead, the coalition there was also united by a consensus economic and social programme to deal with national problems and move the country forward.
The coalition here appears to be united on one issue-removal of the PPP/C government and this has been fuelled by a rabid hatred for the PPP. This coalition is yet to tell this country if it unseats the government how it plans to move the country forward economically and socially, as well as how it would deal with the myriad of problems affecting our society.
But this has been exactly the problem with the opposition parties. They have been making criticisms but have not been coming up with proposed solutions to what they perceive as improper.
So if the opposition parties feel they would win an election by a mere coalition and the sole objective of unseating the government, they are in for a rude awakening.
Perhaps they should learn from the experience of India where the Moraji Desai coalition led by his Janata Party worked towards unseating Mrs. Indira Gandhi and were successful, but two years after the coalition collapsed because of the absence of policies and programmes to right the wrongs Mrs. Gandhi’s government was allegedly responsible for. The end result was Mrs. Gandhi returned to government by sweeping the polls.
The only difference here is that based on current feedback from the electorate, the coalition does not stand a chance to go into government even for a few days. This has been conceded by even a former PNCR parliamentarian Dr. Dalgleish Joseph who said that  his former party still has mass reach and could do well in the elections should it use PPP/C strategies.  According to him, the PNCR 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 this newspaper 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.