Dear Editor,
Following a recent meeting between Mr. Granger and President Ramotar, there has been much speculation that APNU may be colluding with the PPP to avert the no-confidence vote tabled by the AFC. This interpretation of events may be particularly attractive to the AFC and some of its professed supporters. Because it lends credibility to the narrative, that the APNU and PPP are two sides of the same coin, against which the AFC must stand alone. It also allows the AFC to project itself as the champion of the Guyanese people, valiantly opposing the mighty APNU/PPP ‘dinosaurs.’ This spin however, does not stand up to sober scrutiny when one considers all of the facts.
First of all, what would APNU gain by helping the PPP to remain in power? Wouldn’t APNU want power for themselves, like any normal political party?
The AFC tabled a no-confidence motion, without consulting, or even informing APNU, the larger opposition entity. This in itself was strange, to say the least. The AFC then took the public position that this motion would ‘remove the PPP, ‘ without any indication of how this would be achieved. Following this public display, the AFC refused to entertain the idea of an AFC/APNU alliance, which would have given the combined opposition a numerical advantage in any resulting general election, and vastly increased the probability of a PPP defeat. Instead, the tiny AFC intended to lead Guyana into a three-way electoral race, in which the PPP would again likely win a plurality, and another five-year term. Of course, none of this made any sense; a fact highlighted by many independent observers and analysts.
But APNU had no choice; it had to support the motion, or risk losing supporters. An eventuality which may well have been to the AFC’s benefit. APNU however, chose to focus its efforts on the long overdue local government elections, as it should have been doing all along. Naturally, APNU’s pressure on the ruling regime, would have resulted in the two sides having discussions at some point. Which is exactly what was intended, and eventually transpired.
There is nothing sinister in the Leader of the Opposition meeting with the president, particularly under these circumstances. And any attempt to make it appear so is deliberately misleading.
The AFC continues to shout from the rooftops, that the no- confidence vote is the answer to all of Guyana’s woes. Do they honestly think that such a vote is the end of the matter? What about the resulting campaign and elections; what are the AFC’s plans for those developments?
It has been said that APNU appears less than enthusiastic about an AFC-instigated three-way race. And perhaps this is true. But such hesitancy, if it exists, is understandable and certainly justified. Perhaps, APNU is considering all of the angles carefully, instead of running pell-mell into a general election, without a clear end-game in sight, as the AFC seems to be doing.
Given all of those indisputable facts, perhaps, APNU’s apparent reticence is saving Guyana from another five years under the dictatorship of the PPP.
Yours faithfully,
Mark DaCosta
