Analysis by Rickey Singh

AT the time of writing this column yesterday afternoon, intense political maneuverings for a pre-election anti-People’s Progressive Party front for the coming May 11 general elections, were still underway.

The signals were, however, pointing more towards a likely integrated coalition between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).

Nevertheless if, as now expected, this long elusive Opposition unity front does materialise, it would be more the result of the politics of desperation by the leadership of both parties that have come to recognise their failures to separately impress the electorate in time for the coming May 11 General and Regional elections.

The shared hope of David Granger (PNC leader and APNU chairman – and the AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan), is that they could have demonstrated sufficient ‘political love’ on ‘Valentine Day’ yesterday to make a reality of the structure of their ‘unity front’ in time for meaningful communication with the electorate to form an anti-PPP coalition government.

That’s quite a challenge, to judge from their separate and collective performances at the November 2011 elections when, with more financial resources, newer faces and, more importantly, the PNC doing its best to clean up its image from a controversial political past.

The end result was the incumbent PPP/C retaining the big constitutional Executive President prize though, for the first time ever, losing by one seat an overall parliamentary majority in the 65-member National Assembly.

Granger’s “Burnham” factor

Overcoming recurring hurdles to widen its economic social and cultural gains traceable to its return to democratic governance in October 1992, was undoubtedly quite challenging for the PPP administration under President Donald Ramotar.

It clearly had more than enough of systematic opposition with the perceived APNU/AFC’s misuse of their combined one-vote majority to continuously block major fiscal, economic and social policies. Hence, the prorogation in November last year and, finally, dissolution of parliament for the coming elections on May 11.

Then arose leadership and campaign financing challenges for both APNU and AFC with the latter moving up front to present ex-PPP ‘comrade’ Moses Nagamootoo, as its Presidential candidate; while Ramjattan remained as party leader and perceived primary ‘strategist’, with Nigel Hughes in a seemingly decorative position as party chairman.

Beyond what the combined Opposition have in common against a return to governance for a fifth consecutive term, though based on recognised free and fair elections, the APNU/AFC’s anti-PPP/C politics in Parliament have accumulated a significant record in opposing major policies to affect Guyana’s further economic and social development.

When the official campaigning gets underway, we would no doubt be reminded of such occurrences between the last (20ll) general elections and end of the Tenth Guyana Parliament.

Of immediate interest, however, following declaration of the expected APNU/AFC anti-PPP election coalition, would be the intriguing initiative by PNC leader Granger to launch with fanfare his party’s election campaign on Tuesday, February 20 to coincide with the birth anniversary of that party’s founding leader and first Executive President, the late Forbes Burnham.

Strange, puzzling and contradictory things do occur in party politics. But given the history of consistent electoral fraud at national elections by the PNC, it is quite intriguing that the retired GDF Brigadier who heads that party should think it a plus to link the start of APNU’s election campaign with President Burnham’s birth anniversary.

For now, I await to learn the details of the official announcement of the APNU/AFC anti-PPP elections ‘unity’ front.
(Guyana-born Rickey Singh is a Barbados-based noted Caribbean journalist)