THIS past week, we saw a new political movement being launched by Simona Broomes called the “Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity.”
Broomes, a former government minister (2015 – 2020), declared that she had resigned from the membership of the PNC/R and APNU. She has boldly declared that her party will coalesce with any party in the National Assembly once their goals are the same. She said she would focus on getting the youth population to vote for the betterment of our country.

Surprisingly, Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes and Leader of the Justice for All Party (JFAP), Jaipaul Sharma, were the only members of the opposition who showed public support for the party, and were in attendance.

Also, over the past several months, several parties have either been formed or been resuscitated to contest the upcoming General and Regional Elections. That aside, they have been spotted in myriad photo-ops with largely the main opposition parties, the PNC/R and AFC, holding either discussions or smiling.

Additionally, there have been heightened social and political activism, particularly with two local controversial businessmen competing for the public’s attention, love and support, seemingly with the intention of becoming the President or some other high-ranking government official. It would appear that one of these businessmen is campaigning and trying to compete with the officialdom in 2025, months before the elections.

And, quiet as it is kept, Glenn Lall, who is interested in launching a political party, is also preparing to do so maybe as the year progresses.

In short, every nook and cranny has somebody or some political entity that will seemingly challenge the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic government for power and authority to govern oil-rich Guyana.

It seems as though this year will be very interesting and eventful as much as it will be thrilling and exciting. It is good that so many young and old political parties have decided to contest this year’s elections.

It is even more noteworthy that some parties along with the other embattled businessmen have decided to publicly take on the ruling party politicians over issues such as corruption; the cash grant distribution; Budget 2025; the allocation and expenditure of Guyana’s oil wealth; social issues; economic issues; land allocation and distribution policy and a number of other issues.
It is good for Guyana and good for our future as a developing country in this part of the world. Guyana will benefit from having a wide spectrum of political parties purportedly representing people from all walks of life who yearn for wealth, prosperity and a better life.

Firstly, it is the public’s hope that these newly formed political parties will put in the work and continue to advocate on behalf of the Guyanese people. They must walk and go into every community telling the people about their own policies and plans.

They must draw parallels between Guyana and their version of Guyanese. Present numbers and names at rallies and meetings, fleshing out the big ideas. The Guyanese public must know their position on the PPP and PNC’s tenure in office.

These groups must tell Guyanese about what was, is, and will be their position on rigging and rigging elections, not just the usual tricks that the political parties are known for. People, particularly the youth, are interested in hearing from Broomes and others about their position on the fact that PNC/R-led APNU+AFC tried to rig the elections in this country in 2020, again.
They must be bold enough to say what was the role they played during the five-month election standoff or if they were silent and sheepishly ran when they were faced with a challenge.
They must make good, pointed and empirical presentations to the Guyanese people, presenting their record of what they have done and are going to do, should they vote for these political parties and personalities.

Secondly, the public should be careful and wary of the tricks of these politicians.

They should be ever watchful and listen carefully to things they say because numbers, names and places will matter when their politicians are seeking to criticise the development and programmes that are in place.

Places will matter because of the main target groups and audiences they are appealing to. How they will discuss the names of prominent people who played a role in Guyana’s history is also important and will expose their true intentions.

The public should look at these parties’ executives and memberships and the apparent links, for example, to Congress Place and the PNC. Broomes, for one, could not be trusted when she avoided offering any definitive answers as to coalescing with the PNC, APNU or AFC, unlike Glenn Lall who seemingly would not coalesce with any of these parties. He is pandering to a slate of deep pockets and controversial men and women.

They should examine all these paper parties and probe their leaders when they campaign in Kitty, Sophia and every part of the country. The public must not give them any passes and must insist that their questions be answered promptly and without delay. The public should demand a debate amongst the top four parties to get a clearer picture of the policies and plans for our country before it makes its decision on how to vote.

Thirdly, the PPP/C must not be intimidated and must continue responding to any serious allegation made against it and its politicians. It must see these newcomers and old parties, that seemingly slept through the period 2015 to 2025, for who they are, and that is dependent on their backgrounds and usefulness to the country.

The PPP/C may be inclined to examine these groups with a ‘fine teeth’ comb. Though the opposition is fractured, they will not miss an opportunity to come-together and try to wrench power away from the PPP’s firm grip.

Even if the opposition splits their constituencies, the PPP/C must draft a plan for getting more than enough votes and seats at the elections this time. It must make sure its information machinery is well oiled because they are going to gang up on the PPP/C party, and try to revise the history of politics so that they can pull the wool over the eyes of the new, young and unsuspecting voter.

Finally, those political parties that want to limit how far back we as people could talk and comment on Guyana’s political history are in the strange business of telling alternative facts. These are revisionist historians who turned politicians just the other day.

History is a constant reminder of all the things we can ill afford to experience as a country in our pursuit for equality, justice, good governance, and overall greatness and prosperity. History is a life-long teacher and based on who tells it, it can inform certain choices which citizens make, are bound to make, and are liable to make in the future.

As we contest this year, it is history that will cause all the political parties including the PPP/C to be exposed and stand in their truth before the electorate. It will expose all the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

It will expose all the shams, fraudsters, hypocrites, crooks, maligners, swindlers, tricksters, informers, con artists and two-timers that are in the elections race this year. And, that may be the reason they do not like to hear about the past.

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.