THE old adage rings loud and true again: ‘if you want to lead, then get your house in order’. In the recent past, AFC has been most outlandish in criticising the PPP/C.
Party members have been conjuring up all kinds of ideas, mostly lies, in attacking Donald Ramotar, since he, in all likelihood, will be the next president of Guyana. However, what the AFC has failed to do is to get its own ‘act together.’

The party wants to lead, but its inner turmoil and leadership crises are just too overwhelming for it to be effective. Here is the scenario.

The AFC is playing hop-scotch at the moment. It is jumping around, pulling one stunt after another, in order to solve its leadership crisis, and salvage its sagging image.

The latest joke, in this otherwise pathetic story, is that Raphael Trotman will now be Khemraj Ramjattan’s running mate (sounds ‘laughy’, but it is true). Not so long ago there were reports which said that Trotman was most reluctant to concede the constitutionally pre-arranged AFC presidential spot to Ramjattan.

It was said that he cited factors of incompetence and constitutional mis-interpretation. However, Ramjattan was adamant and did not succumb to the Trotman ploy of intimidation. Also, Trotman was severely pressured and eventually forced to give up his fight, leaving the hapless Ramjattan as the Presidential Candidate, though not the leader.

But then suddenly Trotman, whose trust has always been an issue within the AFC, said he wouldn’t run in the prime minister’s spot because of (sudden) health reasons. Thus a quandary was created. The saga has a little bit more to it. Ready for the shocker?

The real reason Trotman abdicated the expected ‘running mate’ position was that he was not in solidarity with his AFC colleagues. He was caught ‘red-handed’ and exposed by the PPP, when he was colluding with the PNC (yes indeed). Some of the evidence is on film – it was at the Pegasus Hotel where Trotman met with the PNC top brass, while Ramjattan was kept in the dark. It was a clandestine move and ‘skinned up’ Trotman.
The ‘back street’ discussion with the PNC top brass has all kinds of negative repercussions. It leaves unanswered questions such as Trotman’s real mission and purpose, the AFC’s competence, and PNC’s infiltration. Now AFC had to still act, and it made that necessary move.

It was a veritable crisis no doubt and the AFC ‘waved a magic wand’ (out of necessity) and pronounced that Sheila Holder would be the running-mate. Sheila Holder, however, wasted months, and seemingly getting nowhere, pulled out, citing health issues.

This paved the way for Trotman to be back on top, and again this was not wisdom in practice, but necessity making a bad bargain. First, it was Trotman’s not being able to engender trust from his mates, and now it is Sheila Holder’s debility. Any which way, it seems that AFC is a pre-determined loser.

So by way of summary, one can recall that Trotman was very upset to give up the presidential spot, and he also gave the lowest level of endorsement to Ramjattan.

At that time, it appeared that Trotman did not have confidence in Ramjattan, or maybe ‘power got to him.’ Sources say that Trotman is always embarrassed with Ramjattan’s speeches. The problem for the AFC then is very complex. If the two top ‘dogs’ are not getting along, the party might eventually utterly collapse. This may be most revealing: will Trotman still support the PNCR or one can better ask, will he quit the ‘furtive’ game and come out publicly? On the other hand, what will Ramjattan do? PNCR led APNU, as Ramjattan knows, is just using the other little parties. Guyana is eagerly awaiting.