ELECTION day is 71 days away. And currently, the people have no clue as to what platforms the contesting parties are advocating for the good of this dear land of Guyana.

Indeed, some ‘sound bite’ platforms (aims and principles of a party) came to the fore at the APNU-AFC’s ‘togetherness’ event and its aftermath, but nothing resembling clearly articulated policies, programmes, and projects.

This ‘platform’ void is ever present and is expanding because the Opposition groupings are busy with cementing their uneasy ties like getting to know each other as in arranged marriages where the bride and bridegroom only meet for the first time on their wedding day; and where they exploit that day and the next few only to learn much as the coveted prize still has to be won!

Meanwhile, as the APNU-AFC’s ‘getting to know each other’ campaign is well underway, the newly-wedded parties are feverishly allocating ministerial and cabinet positions to all and sundry as if the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections already have come and gone.

At least, the incumbent PPP/C Government has its ongoing programmes earmarked for the next year or two; but unfortunately, some of these are noteworthy capital projects currently held in the Opposition APNU-AFC captivity.

The message is now loud and clear that APNU-AFC is entering this election with deep-seated arrogance and omnipotence; it is really not difficult to ‘sus’ out this conclusion. The APNU-AFC’s one-seat parliamentary majority has so titillated its political power appetite and imagination that it has come to believe that only the APNU-AFC can dish out salvation to the people of this green land of Guyana.

And so, its gradual unveiled message on a poster could carry the caption ‘APNU-AFC Against Every Thing’. Of course, almost daily, there is reinforcement of this caption’s message. For instance, listening to the regular outpourings and pontifications of the sergeant-general of the APNU-AFC gives the impression that the PPP/C Government has squandered the goodwill of the people and has reduced this country to shame and disgust; and so, APNU-AFC vows to review most if not all of the PPP/C

Government’s projects.

To begin with, this approach is a stretch because looking over all of this Government’s or any Government’s projects will consume considerable time to the point of excess; so how then will the people see APNU-AFC’s proposed innovative programmes that it so boasts about, never mind the implementation of such innovative programmes and indeed, their funding sources to bring them to fruition?

APNU-AFC has a little over two months to tell the people of this great land of Guyana what its informed and innovative platforms are, and that will soon bring salvation to the people of this country; and merely mentioning platforms will be necessary but not sufficient because we – the people – must know how APNU-AFC intends to fund its proposed programmes arising from the platforms and how such programmes will be evaluated to determine their impact on the nation.

Another point worth mentioning is that presenting platforms and their accompaniments repeatedly may be an effective way to disseminate the message. At least, the advertising experts agree on this approach. But these advertising people may not be correct if APNU-AFC or any party has a suspect product in store for the people.

The incumbent PPP/C Government, too, will have to present platforms with their appropriate accompaniments. But the incumbent has an advantage when it comes to presenting platforms, in that there is no need for haste, due to its existing programmes and projects outlined in the current national budget, many of which may be rolled over into another year; the people have access to this information and are witnesses to the outcomes and impact of many of these projects.

However, notwithstanding this incumbent’s advantage, the task of presenting its platforms now has to be in a state of readiness.

And talking about incumbency, incumbents at election times do have a major advantage with huge turnouts at the polls. The incumbent PPP/C ruling party, therefore, has to work toward developing a mammoth turnout at the May 11 poll, especially with the Preliminary List of Electors at 567,125, representing an increase of 75,000 electors from year 2014. (First printed in: themisirpost.wordpress.com)

***PULL QUOTE:
This ‘platform’ void is ever present and is expanding because the Opposition groupings are busy with cementing their uneasy ties like getting to know each other as in arranged marriages where the bride and bridegroom only meet for the first time on their wedding day; and where they exploit that day and the next few only to learn much as the coveted prize still has to be won!

By Dr. Prem Misir