– but it is impossible for voters to forgive the party

IN what appears to be the start of the elections season, the AFC is busy trying to create some amount of hype which masks an eerie sort of panic that is gradually creeping into their ranks.

It is like going in to write an exam when you know you were careless during classes and did not study at all. After they won seven seats in the National Assembly following the last elections, the party’s presidential candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan, while addressing a Congress of the People conference in Trinidad shortly after had praised Guyana’s electoral system and pointed out that the AFC had only won 10% of the votes but still enjoyed such a significant representation in the Parliament.

This, he noted, would not have been possible in Trinidad and Tobago as was the fate experienced by the COP.

Ramjattan had also revealed that the AFC had never expected to win the election. Therefore, it was clear from the outset that all the promises being made by the party in the lead up to the last elections were nothing but an attempt to dupe citizens into voting for them as they had already knew they would not be elected and thus not have to keep their end of the bargain.

This is confirmed by the fact that even though the AFC and APNU enjoyed a combined one seat majority in the National Assembly, the small party made absolutely no effort to use the National Assembly to honour its promises.

As reality began to dawn on their supporters, many became disenchanted and left the AFC. An independent poll conducted earlier this year had indicated that the party has lost as much as 50% of its supporters. This is a startling number for any party, much less such a small political organisation which is still fairly new in Guyanese politics. Therefore, the biggest worry for the AFC currently is if it can ever get back that 10% it gained at the last elections. The alarm bells would have been set off when the party recently hosted a political meeting at Port Mourant, Corentyne, where Moses Nagamootoo resides.

‘…as with anything, the passage of time has proved an eye opener. Moses is now seen for what he has been accused of all along, a power obsessed individual who conveniently portrays a concern for the ordinary man, simply to achieve his ends.’

In the last elections, Moses had just left the PPP and was making a number of accusations and placing himself as the victim. Many sympathised with him and when the AFC held a meeting in this very community, quite a large number of persons came out to support them purely on the basis of the crocodile tears of ‘Naga’.

But as with anything, the passage of time has proved an eye opener. Moses is now seen for what he has been accused of all along, a power obsessed individual who conveniently portrays a concern for the ordinary man, simply to achieve his ends. The fact that he and the AFC had not only criticised every effort by the PPP/C Government to support the sugar industry but had also called for the industry be closed, came as a shocker for those who had believed his version of events up to that point.

This was most evident when the AFC returned to Port Mourant as pointed out earlier. However, this time around the crowd was not there to greet or listen to them. There were less than a handful of small pockets of individuals milling around. Some of the AFC leaders looked puzzled but they should not have been, as if they had paid attention to the NACTA poll published in March this year rather than attacking its credibility, they would have realised that the political undercurrent was gradually changing.

Here it was in the hometown of Moses Nagamootoo, there was less than 50 persons, and yet still many of those were AFC leaders and support staff. Why this dramatic fall in support in the space of three years?

They did absolutely nothing for the average Guyanese and opposed all such efforts by the PPP/C Government and for this, it is impossible for voters to forgive them.