Dear Editor,
A little after the 2015 national and regional elections a senior political figure of the Alliance for Change (AFC) threatened to resign, maybe because he was not given the position he had wanted, or had been promised. He subsequently changed his mind after discussions with the management of the party, which may have resulted in him being appointed to a position which he held for a short time, and then resigned. Thereafter he publicly criticized the AFC, particularly one of its founder members. How are we as party members and activists to pronounce on or analyze his pattern of behaviour? Are we to be critical of him or of the leadership of the party?
There are some who join a political party so as to serve their personal interest, while others work tirelessly to strengthen the structure of the party, so the party would be able to serve the interest of the people, whether it is in the opposition or government.
How we measure loyalty to a political party, organization, association or team, would depend on a lot of factors, and would be debatable; but there are major differences between constructive and destructive criticism ‒ but who are we to be the judge the person or persons who criticize or those who are being criticized?
Political parties need activists or foot soldiers so as to create and maintain a strong support base, and while the mail cannot run without money, politics generally is all about numbers. Persons would ask, what is there for me? And like in any area in life, it is a legitimate expectation that people should be rewarded for their efforts and sometimes the sacrifices made; but when those expectations are not met, what should be their reaction?
How are we going to reward our political activists? Of course round pegs should not be placed in square holes, it would certainly defeat the purpose of the party and embarrass us all if we lost our support base and no longer recognized it as a potent force. Then we would have shot ourselves in the foot.
Some may describe the individual action referred to above as gross political immaturity and disloyalty. The numbers in support of this action for and against might be very close. The political culture is, as it is, in Guyana. Many more political activists, would be making similar utterances or behave in like manner, and while this situation is not unique to political parties in Guyana, I am not sure how members and activists stand to benefit from adverse comments regarding their political party.
I do hope that in this instance it would not impact negatively on the AFC.
Sometimes ‘we got to beat awe drum with fedda’, and there are times also when we say enough is enough.
Yours faithfully,
Archie W Cordis
Former AFC Councillor
Region No 2
