LAST Monday, I titled my column “This Masquerade”. It was about the political masquerade of several political parties that literally do not have a leadership committee, much less members. There are no other Caribbean countries that have so many individuals that have formed political parties, and each individual is the only member of the party.

Why this country produces so many bizarre acts of politics? Days after I wrote “This Masquerade”, we saw another manifestation of the pantomime. The Alliance For Change (AFC) is on an outreach programme to meet all political parties. So, last week it met an organisation named “Justice and Equality Party” headed by Jaipaul Sharma.

The AFC released a statement and photograph. There were four members of the AFC’s executive committee, including most of its ‘big wigs’, but only Sharma appeared in the frame. Something is wrong here, and the presence of Mr. Sharma only is a manifestation of a crowded street with one-man organisations.

Something has to be wrong that Mr. Sharma forms a party, and not one other person was there to meet with the AFC. Everybody knows that when an organisation is born, it comes about because a few persons met and decided on the formation.

After the birth, a person is identified as the leader, and there is always a deputy. Someone is chosen to head the area of finance, while another person is named to work on the publicity section of the entity. Is Mr. Sharma telling us he had not one other person available to meet with the AFC?

Is Sharma disrespecting himself? How do you explain Sharma going into a dialogue with another political party, and only he shows up? Surely, Sharma ought to behave more responsibly, because he was a former minister of the government just four years ago.

The other side of the coin is why did the AFC allow the masquerade to go on. Once the meeting was arranged and Sharma alone turned up, then the AFC should have postponed the event until Mr. Sharma got his team to represent his outfit. The AFC will say it did not know that Sharma was a one-man band. If it didn’t know ,and it invited him, once he turned up alone, then suspicion should have given way to reality. And that reality is that the Justice and Equality Party is a one-man outfit.

Another Third Force party, ANUG, announced that it will be having dialogue with all political parties. But will the ANUG allow the masquerade to go on? Is ANUG going to meet with Sharma? Is ANUG going to meet with Keith Scott’s outfit, the National Democratic Alliance? That is a one-man show. Is ANUG going to meet with Rajendra Bissesar, “National United Front”? That is another one-man outfit. Is ANUG going to meet with Tabitha Sarabo-Halley’s “National Builders Movement”? That is another one-person entity.

Is ANUG going to meet with Craig Sylvester’s Democratic National Congress”? He is the only member in the band. Is ANUG going to meet with Audreyanna Thomas’ “Project One People”? Her organisation is a one-person grouping. So, the AFC met with Sharma’s thing last week. Is the AFC going to have dialogue with all the other one-member bands listed above?

If ANUG and the AFC do embark on such a policy, people are going to laugh at them. In fact, people must have laughed at that image where there were four AFC leaders meeting with a political party that has only one member; the leader himself. Any Guyanese has the right to form an organization, but this one-man thing is annoying, and it is unbecoming of the AFC and ANUG to willingly participate in this pantomime.

In the meantime, another organisation, the WPA, is seeking parliamentary seats through the back door. This three-man entity says it is in dialogue with the PNC to go into the 2025 election as a coalition. What the WPA is looking for is free parliamentary seats through the generosity of the PNC. Who is going to vote for the WPA? The voters who would like to vote for the WPA are going to give their votes either to the PNC or AFC.

The PNC leadership cannot be that stupid to think that the election partnership with the WPA is going to bring in votes. If the PNC chooses to do a coalition thing with the WPA, then it knows it will be giving free parliamentary seats to the WPA. That is the PNC’s business, but surely no PNC leader can be that silly to believe that the WPA is an election asset. The WPA died a long time ago.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.