WHEN President Bharrat Jagdeo shared his thoughts on the newly formed “A Partnership for National Unity” (APNU) at a press briefing at the Office of the President, he declared quite emphatically some important truths, regarding the David Granger-led opposition coalition APNU. President Jagdeo was right. APNU cannot win the elections (and may not even be able to generate interest) as its partners are all moribund “deadbeat” parties. First, even though many are saying that the PNCR is really in abeyance until ‘God knows when,’ it is really admitting that it has no meaningful constituency. Recently, disenchanted and die-hard PNCR’s supporters have crossed the divide and have embraced other affiliations, namely the PPP/C. So President Jagdeo is indeed correct to “… (be) wrapping his head around the idea that the PNC has been dissolved” even though he has a hard time really accepting it. He knows why too. The PNCR is engaging in trickery. It is seeking a new face, but the wicket ‘body, soul and mind’ is intact.

A key point that the President explained was that of the combined effect of these non-entities, hoping to make an impact. APNU, consisting of the PNCR and other small political parties-the National Front Alliance (NFA) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) – are trying to win the elections, seemingly by ‘fluke’ or a ‘stroke of luck.’ This is because (according to the President), that based on Guyana’s electoral system of Proportional Representation, which in reality is “one man one vote”, the APNU has no chances of winning the elections, and the reasons are quite telling.
First by reflecting on the 2006 elections results and the performances of the parties that form the APNU, one will notice that the PNCR secured 34 percent of the votes. The NFA did not contest the 2006 polls, but managed less than one percent of votes in the 2001 elections. During this period, the WPA was in the Land of Nod. So in reality this is APNU: a mere dressing up. It is like one plus zero being still one. So the metaphors works: “no matter how one dresses it up, repackaged people, cut their hair, put them in suits, do all sorts of stuff, resurrect people from a different era, it is the same, and so that’s the reality.”
What is important for Guyanese to note is that even though the ignominy that inheres in the tag, ‘PNCR’ seems reduced, it is the same players who are involved. These heavily tarnished politicians have “torn” history, and there are just too many unanswered questions. For example, the out-going President pointed out that “Granger (David) still was the political “commissar” in the army… (and) up to a few weeks ago he was saying how long he has been a member of the PNC; Granger is running as presidential candidate, so his record doesn’t disappear because he changed the form of the organization, Granger still has to answer for his record.” So not only is APNU effete and useless, it is immoral, irresponsible, arrogant and unaccountable.
So in closing, I suggest to Guyanese that they bear cognizance of three things. First, the dwindling constituency of the PNCR over the years; the null and void effect of the coalition called APNU (really a team of losers); and the disguising of the PNCR as well as its unwillingness to answer for crimes committed against Guyanese.