GUYANA does not have a good history when it comes to coalition politics. And given the notable distrust in the political arena, and on the basis of past political experiences, a coalition only for the sake of unseating the ruling party may end in failure.Those were the sentiments of General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Clement Rohee, during his weekly press conference held Monday at Freedom House.

“It would take more than the magical powers of Houdini to convince the Guyanese electorate that an AFC/APNU (Alliance For Change/A Partnership For National Unity) coalition would fare any better this time around, especially in an environment characterised by lack of trust and hegemonic tendencies on the part of the PNC,” he said.
PNC’S TENDENCIES
Expounding on these “tendencies”, Rohee alluded to Guyana’s post-colonial history, when only three political parties had the opportunity to govern -– the PPP, the People’s National Congress (PNC), and the United Force (UF).

He said, “The UF was a junior coalition partner following the elections of 1964. That coalition lasted for a mere three years, until the UF was unceremoniously booted out from the coalition government, but not before the PNC had taken full control of the state machinery which included the Elections Commission.

“…the first coalition government involving the PNC and the UF ended in an abysmal failure, even though the coalition succeeded in the removal of the PPP from office in 1964 in what a former British Prime Minister dubbed ‘a fiddled constitutional arrangement’.”

The PPP General Secretary added that there were also earlier attempts at a coalition between the PPP and the PNC, in the early 1960s, which failed because of the hardline positions taken by the then PNC leader, Forbes Burnham.

Rohee said, “Mr. Burnham refused to agree on parity terms in Cabinet offered by the PPP, and opted instead to align himself with foreign vested interests and local reactionary elements to destabilise the PPP government.

“After the PNC rigged itself into power in successive national and regional elections, there were attempts to form a broad national front government with an agreed programme initiated by the PPP. This attempt once again failed after the PNC dismissed the PPP as a ‘minority’ party, even though the whole of Guyana knew differently.”

Rohee charged that the PNC regime’s “obsession” with power knows no bounds. “Apart from the blatant disregard for the fundamental rights of the Guyanese people to elect a government of their choice, the regime embarked on a reign of terror in which several Guyanese were harassed, victimised, jailed, and in some cases murdered, as the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry so painfully revealed,” he said.

The PPP General Secretary pointed out that the “very players” who once held “key and strategic positions” during that repressive period are once again in the political spotlight.
LEFT TO BE SEEN
Acknowledging the continuation of ‘secret talks’ between APNU and AFC, which are aimed at a pre-election alliance, Rohee said,
“It is interesting to see how these secret talks will play out under the leadership of former military strongman, David Granger.”

“Would the APNU play second fiddle to the AFC, which, apart from being the new kid on the block, is lacking in seniority and mass appeal?” he asked.

Rohee added: “Already there are rumblings from the rank and file in both political camps regarding the secretive manner in which the talks are taking place. Notably, APNU has made it clear that since President Donald Ramotar’s announcement of May 11 as Elections Day, it has gone into campaign mode, with Granger as the Coalition’s presidential candidate and Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine as the prime ministerial candidate -– pending the outcome of talks with the AFC”.

The AFC has recently indicated that it would lead any alliance with APNU.
AFC REMINISCENT OF PNC
The PPP General Secretary said, “The ‘leader or nothing’ position advanced by the AFC is reminiscent of the stance adopted by the PNC Founder Leader Forbes Burnham during the mid-1950s, when he made a grab for the leadership of the PPP; and again during the 1960s, when he refused to become part of a national unity government, but chose instead to team up with Western vested interests and local reactionary elements to remove the PPP from government.

“…the AFC seems determined to have its way in having the number one spot in the presidential race, even though it is by far the junior party in terms of membership and influence,” Rohee said.

ONLY STABLE PARTY
Rohee used the opportunity to stress that, in the decades since Guyana’s independence; the ruling party is the only party that has demonstrated political stability.
He said, “The PPP/C is the only political party that has demonstrated political stability, with a strong Civic component that has endured over the years. The PPP/C formula has remained unchanged since the restoration of democracy on October 5, 1992. The PNC, by contrast, has experimented with several combinations and permutations, changing from PNC to PNCR then to PNCR1G, which eventually morphed into APNU.”

Rohee made it clear that the ruling party is poised once again to be returned to power, this time with a comfortable majority of the votes, as the Opposition parties are still struggling to find a way out of the conundrum in which they have now found themselves.

(By Vanessa Narine)