OPPORTUNISM, a betrayal of principles, a power-hungry show and doubt were terms used by General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr Clement Rohee, to characterise the union between the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

“One and all must reject these modern-day Judases who would have no difficulty whatsoever in selling their hearts and soul for a few pieces of silver in their quest to enter the political kingdom,” he said yesterday, during the Party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House.

DOUBTS PLAGUE ALLIANCE
Hazarding a guess as to what may have brought these one-time sworn enemies together, Rohee said:
“What seems to be the crux of the alliance of the coalition is a deep- seated hatred for the PPP; that is the single most important factor that brought these parties together. They have reaped it over and over; it seems more a marriage of convenience.”
Noting that the jury is still out as to what the two parties have in common, Rohee said:
“It is clear to many — who are skeptical and have doubts about the alliance, because they have not seen the basic principle, tenets, pillars on which this alliance has been consummated — the deep-seated hatred of PPP; the coming together because of mutual self-interest; these are apparently the primordial factors that brought these parties together, rather than a programme that people can rally around.”
And it all goes back three years to the beginning of the 10th Parliament, he said. “This love affair that lasted three years; in our street language, it was three years of ‘swaar’; it finally consummated on Valentine’s Day.”
That this ‘marriage of convenience’ was finally consummated came as no surprise to the Ruling Party, he said, as the two had already been working in tandem to frustrate and destabilise the development agenda of the PPP/C Administration ever since the 2011 elections, which gave a one-seat majority in Parliament.
“The ‘one-seat majority’, or the ‘uncontrollable horse’ was let loose on the people of Guyana,” Rohee said.
POWER-HUNGRY SHOW
Highlighting what he termed the display of the Opposition Parties’ appetite for power, Rohee said: “What the PPP found most nauseating is the depth to which both parties, in particular the AFC, have sunk in their attempt to seek political power.”
Rohee pointed out that going into negotiations the AFC’s made certain public pronouncements about expected outcomes, most all of which had fallen through by the end of talks.
“This insatiable appetite for power has resulted in the AFC being forced to swallow their pride after having stated categorically that it would never enter into an alliance with the APNU in the first place and afterwards to cede the presidential slot to the APNU despite assurances to its membership and the wider public that it will only enter into a coalition unless it gets the presidential candidacy,” he said.
According to him, the AFC is now in no position to “call the shots”, since it was “forced to eat the proverbial humble pie” once more.
“The AFC is now pushed into the political backwater in the new alliance configuration,” he said.
Asked what he thought of the AFC coming out of the negotiations with more leverage, Rohee said: “They have to win the elections first.” He surmised, too, that the leadership ticket, AFC’s Moses Nagamootoo as prime minister and APNU’s Brigadier (rtd) David Granger as president, is intended to create the impression of leverage.
“It is aimed,” he said, “at creating a facade of some measure of political leverage when in fact the AFC will have no alternative but to acquiesce to the diktat of the much more powerful Granger-led PNC.”
Cautioning that the experiences of the past ought not be forgotten, he said: “Fresh in the memory of the Guyanese people is the experience of the 1964 period, when The United Force (TUF) entered into a coalition government with the PNC to unseat the PPP government, only to be unceremoniously kicked out by the PNC a mere three years into the life of the coalition government.
“It took 28 years before the country saw another free and fair election, but not before a once prosperous country was reduced to one of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.”
Rohee also was emphatic in stressing the point of opportunism being evidenced.
“The so-called ‘Cummingsburg’ accord will be remembered with shame down the corridors of time as the day of betrayal of principles on the part of the AFC, which through its Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan has vowed never to join forces with the APNU in any electoral alliance,” the PPP General Secretary said.
CALL ON THE PEOPLE
All considered, Rohee made clear that the Guyanese people must learn from the lessons of history and not allow themselves to be duped by those who are prepared to sacrifice the good of this nation to satisfy their lust for power.
“There is only one party that could deliver this beautiful nation out of poverty and want based on a proven track record of progress and good governance. That party is the PPP/C which come May 11 under the leadership of Donald Ramotar will continue to elevate this country to higher levels of progress and prosperity,” he posited.

PULL QUOTES:
‘One and all must reject these modern-day Judases who would have no difficulty whatsoever in selling their hearts and soul for a few pieces of silver, in their quest to enter the political kingdom’ –- Clement Rohee

“What the PPP found most nauseating is the depth to which both parties, in particular the AFC, have sunk in their attempt to seek political power’ –- Clement Rohee