Dear Editor,
The AFC, through Cathy Hughes, finally let the cat out of the bag. However, gripped suddenly by a fit of embarrassment, her leader, Khemraj Ramjattan tried unsuccessfully to shove the cat back in the bag, it was too late, both the cat, the bag and the boat ‘had gone a fall.’ The ‘hold me, loose me’ pantomimed act was reminiscent of the AFC’s 2018 performance, when the party, in the wake of a fall out with the APNU, announced they will be going it alone come Local Government Elections due to be held that year.
As of October this year, the AFC could not say definitively whether it would contest LGE alone or in alliance with the APNU. What appeared to be the most worrisome, if not tormenting for the AFC was, at the last LGE held in 2018, they secured a paltry 4 percent of the total votes cast. In LGE 2023, a total wipe out appeared inevitable. The likelihood of the AFC either boycotting or contesting LGE’23 separately is probably based on their own subjective assessment of the political situation obtaining in the country at this historical juncture. Indications are that the Rip van Winkles in the AFC have now become cognizant of their status as political ‘has beens’ belonging to a failed political organization that performed poorly at the last LGE. In that regard, fearing they may be wiped out completely, the AFC must have concluded that both options makes no sense.
As a consequence, the last resort as ‘political wannabes’ would be to hang on to the APNU. But the AFC must be aware that hanging on to the APNU is fraught with many complications since it is now an open secret that within the Coalition itself, and more particularly within the PNC, there is constant bickering driven by internal feuds, personal hatred and ideological disagreements to the extent that the organization has become ungovernable by its own Leader. In a letter to the editor earlier this week, I had envisioned four options facing the APNU+AFC as they contemplate their move in respect to LGE ‘23. First, that they may part ways as they did in 2018 and contest LGE ‘23 separately; secondly, that they may boycott LGE ‘23 individually or collectively, third; that they may resort to hooliganism on the streets aimed at bullying their way into a reformed electoral process. Fourth, that they should behave themselves and participate in the LGE which is the preferred choice of their constituents in their respective Local Authority Areas (LAA’s).
As for boycotting LGE’23, the AFC is bound to end up marooned even more remotely in the political wilderness. And were they to align themselves with any shape or form of street hooligans, they would be unable to extricate themselves from the political quagmire which such actions will impose upon them for years to come. In either situation, the AFC will find themselves as losers once again. Listening to Cathy Hughes say: “If we are going to have any elections, if we are going to talk about democracy, we must have a system that everybody has confidence in. If not, you’ll have half the population unhappy and what kind of actions would you have as a result of that,” one is left to wonder where this kind of language was in 2020. And who is responsible for making not only half, but the entire population unhappy for five long months, not to mention the damage that was inflicted on the country’s image.
Moreover, for Hughes to say; “Why aren’t we more concerned about the people of Guyana saying at the end of the day after election that ‘I endorse these results because I have confidence in the system;” has left many dumbstruck by Hughes’ unabashed and willful guile, who by use of such language, sought to throw dust in the eyes of the electorate especially when they recall the farcical brer anancy story about two Russians, a Libyan national and a fourth unknown person who were in Guyana ‘hanging out at the Marriott Hotel, ‘armed with computers, tablets, flash drives and a number of electronic things to hack into GECOM systems in favour of the PPP’.
But the larger truth is that the statements emanating from Cathy Hughes flies in the face of her party’s reckless efforts to push Guyana’s electoral process into an abyss. Thanks to the organized defenders of democracy, the international community including the Caribbean Community, collectively, they managed to pull Guyana back from the abyss and save the country from being a laughingstock within the international community. Once again, the AFC has proven itself detached from Guyanese reality. They continue being a party of incompetents and self-serving opportunists who has run one race too many.
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
