IN its current form, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) cannot win the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs) which is going to be around the first quarter of next year.
Firstly, if one were to analyse the internal politics of this coalition, one would find that there is discord, disunity and infighting among key members. This, as it were, weakened the strength and ability of the coalition to focus solely on matters that have to do with preparations for the LGEs and sanitisation of the voters’ list.

Instead, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has been a divisive individual within the coalition. He is rumoured to have had several fights with his party comrades over power and control.
So much so, that a senior member of the party has reportedly stepped aside because she does not hold the confidence of certain members inside the PNC control room to play the type of opportunistic, discriminatory, and race-baiting politics of the PNC-APNU+AFC. She is on the outside while Carol Smith-Joseph is driving slowly to a senior position in the party. Smith also copped the portfolio of Chief Scrutineer.

Norton did not shield the senior member from Smith and other party executives. He is allegedly fighting to have influence and control over certain rogue members and parliamentarians by giving out party roles and perks.
Sadly, those persons who supported David Granger and his ways of conducting party business under the veil of secrecy and modernity, thus keeping the prying eyes of the PPP at bay, are constantly after Norton and are criticizing his ways of handling the party’s affairs in the lead-up to LGE polls. Roysdale Forde has gotten in the party’s favour while Christopher Jones and all the other vocal PNC old guards are taking a back seat.

Also, the opposition is not focused as they should be on the elections as too many threats of resignations and party matters are abounding.
It would appear that the AFC does not matter in the scheme of things. They keep their party conference once a week and it has become a talk shop. Ramjattan tries to come off as critical and concerned about developments, but most times fail miserably to meet the mark.

Secondly, the opposition is losing support ahead of LGEs. The narrative of the votes list and the fraud of the PPP/C is not working and sticking.
Perhaps, President, Dr Irfaan Ali; Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, S.C., and the PPP are too quick with cutting down some of the opposition lies spoken about the voters’ list, the 2020 elections episode, and other things such as their argument that Guyana is becoming an apartheid state.

The truth is, these men and the PPP have been travelling the length and breadth of Guyana with the truth, telling Guyanese of the opposition’s alleged deceitful ways.
Take, for instance, only Friday the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) reported that just 17 objections have been made to entrants on the preliminary voters’ list so far. This is one month after it embarked on the claims and objections period in preparation for the LGEs.

Where are all the claims that the opposition said it would make to stop the PPP from padding the voters’ list? Where are all the objections from the APNU+AFC side?
One is forced to conclude that the opposition is crying foul over a list that is perfectly fine, and a process that is working within the laws of Guyana. All done of course because they know they cannot win at the local government polls.

Thirdly, the last Local Government Elections saw the then PPP opposition winning 64 per cent of PR seats and gaining strength in the municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, shaming the coalition and relegating it to a highly unpopular force.
Now the governing party has sped up the process of meeting its manifesto promises made in 2020. The PPP/C government is halfway there and is seemingly focused on building and modernising Guyana, while the opposition is still running behind their concerns about past elections and an election which they did not win.
As opposed to counting and cutting their losses and looking ahead at upcoming elections, the opposition still has not devised a clear strategy for victory, whether it be using the issues that are driving the concerns of the local public or using a political tactic to its advantage.

They are not using the scientific way of arguing the cases of police excesses, discrimination and state excesses. So, there is no empirical evidence to justify their positions on those issues.
Additionally, they have not embraced the use of multimedia technology and new and mass media to get their messages across to the populace. They still do not understand the media and press in Guyana. They still do not understand the use of polls and research in political strategy and marketing.
LGEs will be a contest of ideas and the best policies, not blind allegiance. So, the opposition must shape up or set the stage for its ultimate failure at another local government polls.