AS Guyanese were caught up on Friday with preparations for this weekend’s final rounds of Mashramani celebrations, politicians of two Opposition parties — PNC and AFC –were meeting with the media to announce further arrangements for their anti-PPP electoral front at the coming May 11 General and Regional elections. Of relevance Friday, February 20, was previously announced by the PNC’s leader, David Granger – in his capacity as chairman of APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) – to launch that party’s official campaign for the May 11 elections to coincide with the birth anniversary of the late Forbes Burnham, patriarch of the PNC and first Executive President.

Instead there was the political shift from APNU’s promised launch of its official campaign for the May 11 elections to a shared press conference by representatives of APNU and AFC – minus, strangely, their respective leaders (Granger and Khemraj Ramjattan) – with updates on how they plan to keep their ‘marriage’ together but contesting as two separate parties!

According to media reports out of Guyana, there were NO references to the significance of February 20 being associated with the birth anniversary of the late PNC leader and the coming May elections.
Hence, there are speculations whether this silence resulted from fear of further contributing to spreading internal conflicts within the PNC over too much concessions already made by APNU for its ‘marriage of convenience’ with the AFC?
THE REALITY
The reality, of course, is that the junior ‘partner’ for this political wedlock, AFC, would not wish to be perceived as now going silent on decades-long controversies pertaining to institutionalised electoral fraud under Burnham’s leadership in governance of this nation.

Having failed over months of negotiations to forge an anti-PPP electoral alliance, the PNC and AFC were to make the surprising recent announcement that they had attained such an objective.
Nevertheless, in the absence of any known public endorsement by their respective primary decision-making bodies – certainly not one from a special delegates conference, as a normal practice for established parliamentary parties – the earlier “unity platform” emphasis was focused on APNU’s Granger as Presidential candidate and ex-PPP Moses Nagamootoo as his Prime Ministerial running-mate.
In their “political marriage of last Valentine’s Day”, Guyanese are now learning that while APNU and AFC intend on “staying together” for the coming elections with shared platforms, they would retain their respective name and campaign symbol. Further, while so identified, the marriage partners are to identify, in accordance with elections regulations, their respective list of candidates for the 65-member Parliament.
Basically, the known and behind-the-scene architects and sponsors of the APNU/AFC pre-elections “unity” formation is the latest anti-PPP move to form a “coalition government”.
FIRST BETRAYAL
The first such betrayal dates back to the December 1964 elections when, despite a well-documented official British/American plan, the then incumbent PPP-led government, having secured the single largest bloc of parliamentary seats was denied a constitutional-based first RIGHT to form a coalition government. It was to be the last “free and fair” elections under successive PNC-led governments for a quarter century.
More later. Stay good and watchful while the amusing political scenarios unfold.

Analysis by
Rickey Singh
(Guyanese-born Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist based in Barbados)