I HAVE known Francis Bailey of the political party VPAC for a long time now. He lived two houses from my home in the compound where I live. I have been buying honey from him for years now. My last encounter with him was at the police outpost of the Seawall Esplanade a few months ago.

The police hauled him in for speaking on his phone while driving. I was livid and intervened not to secure special status for Bailey but to ask the police how they could be so discriminately barefaced.

I would be on the esplanade with my dog and would see millions of times when motorcyclists would ride pass the ranks without helmets or would engage in drag racing right in front of them. So, I simply asked why Bailey was so special to be hauled in.

Last week, I had a talk with Bailey about the dispute his party has with Forward Guyana’s leader, Amanza Walton-Desir over parliamentary representation now that the coalition of Forward Guyana, VPAC and Nigel London’s The People’s Movement has won a parliamentary seat as a coalition.

I am not at liberty to disclose what Bailey told me, but it was shocking when you think that all the opposition parties that took part in the general and regional election of 2025 made one huge announcement – the ruling party was undemocratic and they are a democratic alternative.

But look what is happening inside Forward Guyana. The coalition is fighting bitterly over one seat. There is the accusation that within the coalition there are those who do not want to share the five years in parliament. If these people could fight over just one parliamentary seat think of what they would do if they were in charge of the most important CARICOM economy, had they secured power on September 1 this year. If they had won, democracy would have been thrown out the window.

Look what Azruddin Mohamed did to Dr. Mark DeFrance of ANUG. Here is what Dr. France told me. Mohamed and ANUG signed a document that when ANUG sank its identity under Mohamed’s party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), if WIN got four seats, one would go to ANUG and ANUG’s seats would increase depending on how many seats WIN would get.

WIN collected 16 seats and have allocated only one to ANUG and excluded the head of ANUG, Dr. DeFrance himself. Where in the world that formula would have happened? Just think of the caricature and farce that WIN has become. It got 16 seats and chose which seat it will give to WIN and Dr. DeFrance and the chosen lady accept that kind of naked vulgarity.

Think of what Mohamed would have done had he won power. He probably would have named himself President, Prime Minister, Bank of Guyana Governor, Head of the GRA, Head of GPL all rolled into one.

This man Mohamed after that shameless disgraceful situation with ANUG still has the temerity to speak to Guyanese about democracy. But what about ANUG? Is DeFrance and his single parliamentarian so obsessed with power that they are running wildly over the table to collect the crumbs?

Next is the AFC; another party that would have brought democracy to Guyana if they had won but let’s see how they approach democracy. The General-Secretary of the AFC, Raphael Trotman said just days before his announcement that he was giving up the leader position, Nigel Hughes attended an executive meeting and did not even hint at his upcoming resignation.

Trotman said Hughes’ exodus was suddenly thrown upon the party. Yet Hughes that treated the AFC in that contemptuous way and could not secure even one seat in parliament is being begged by the AFC leadership to stay on.

But please read what is to follow now. When I read that the AFC in July had appointed Laura George as an organiser, I called my personal friend, Michael Carrington to ask him about George’s status within the AFC.

Carrington is the deputy chairman, which according to the constitution, makes him third in charge of the AFC. Carrington did not have any information about George’s role. He responded: “Is she an employee or a consultant?”

I was stunned and went silent momentarily. Through Carrington’s reaction, it was clear to me that George’s appointment did not come either to the executive or a small body within the executive because Carrington had no knowledge of what was going on.

This same AFC has accused the ruling PPP the past five years of no democracy, no accountability. Just think of how they would have administered Guyana had they won the 2025 election.

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.