Dear Editor
With its overwhelming local government elections victory, the PPP/C can now seize the opportunity to solidify and formalise its support into communal unities that challenge, and resist opposition forces propaganda campaigns aimed at creating distrust and disunity.

Widely acknowledged is that electoral victory does not automatically result in the withering away of opposition forces influences and perceived relevance. It also does not automatically transform increasing political support into a collective consciousness that promotes enduring governmental loyalties. Instead, the expansion of governmental loyalty starts with electoral victory that signals the importance of continued efforts to address the needs and expectations of residents.

Factually, President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s community outreach campaigns already demonstrated his exceptional national leadership in resolving local issues and instilling trust in the populace. Through the continuation and expansion of such outreach, local communal trust in governmental supportive actions can be affirmed and reconstructed into the building of a national unity, a One Guyanese identity.

It would be foolhardy to underplay, or dilute, the President’s outreach campaigns that helped in arousing families’ political awareness and motivating community residents into ensuring a PPP/C’s local government electoral victory.
Similarly, one cannot disavow the PPP/C’s government actions and policy initiatives that focused on the development of the country and improving the daily lives of all Guyanese.

Given these realities, the victorious popular support politically equips the government to forge ahead against discrediting propaganda campaigns that seek to mobilise desperate groups into a cohesive opposition force.
Gravely hurt by the shift in their declining political support, opposition forces would not hesitate in aggressively instigating resistance by capitalising on ethnic differences to promote indifference, unrest, and instability.

Hence, the PPP/C should realise that naysayers, opportunistic instigators, and individuals seeking relevance would be increasingly aggressive in promoting disunity by discrediting governmental decisions, initiatives and policies that benefit the entire nation.
Given their local government electoral trashing, opposition forces would most likely intensify their propaganda campaigns to denigrate the government, pointing to every minute failure or weakness in infrastructural projects, contractual agreements, and policy decisions to bolster their relevance. Their likely reactions of potential divisiveness should serve as a warning to the government of the necessity to intensify its efforts in addressing the needs of the people who are the true agents against political campaigns seeking to promote disunity.

In the fight against the promotion and realisation of a unified Guyana, the PPP/C government can now capitalise on its local government overwhelmingly electoral victory to build and expand its local government leadership base and representation. For, it is this level of participation that would serve as instruments, and voices of concerns, and resolution of local community/residential problems. By so doing, the support of opposition forces would continue to erode while incrementally contributing to the solidification of PPP/C governmental support.

Narayan Persaud, PhD
Professor Emeritus