Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 17, 2019 Letters
What will be the impact on the national landscape with the mushrooming of several new political parties in recent weeks? Will this development break decades of ethnic voting and weaken the dominance of the traditional Indian based People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the Black People’s National Congress (PNC)? These new parties will undoubtedly begin to change the historical voting pattern in Guyana, partly because of the new demographics – the emergence of a significant number of young voters in recent years.
Today, the voting population has shifted significantly and includes young, educated and vibrant thinkers. Not many are sugar workers and farmers. In fact, large numbers are educated, but unemployed. Others are pursuing promising careers in the private sector. The major parties have disappointed them in their quest for social and economic mobility. Even the emergence of the Alliance For Change with all its lofty promises has failed to deliver the goods sought by this young group. And it is this group that is likely to break the backbone of racial voting and support a party with a modern development programme in which the young can benefit.
At least three of the new parties launched have reflected relatively young leaders and include members from major racial categories. In their embryonic stage, there is no evidence of any intent at racial politics. Many young voters will certainly be attracted to them based on common aspirations. However, the location from which they have been sprung is particularly significant. The Liberty and Justice Party is likely to clinch most of the Amerindian votes, which have traditionally been scored by the PPP. The Amerindians in particular have long been a marginal group and will obviously support one who can identify with their culture. Another, The Democratic National Congress), sprouted from Berbice, a traditional stronghold of the PPP will likely take away thousands of votes from the PPP. With the urban based , A New and United Guyana, which includes Ralph Ramkarran , the PNC will similarly be weakened. The result will be a serious splitting of the votes with no major party able to form a Government. Votes won at the last elections (APNU 207,200 – 33 seats. PPP 202,694 -32 seats) reveal very slim margins for both political groupings. A few thousand votes taken away from either equation can make a major difference and further dent the traditional parties.
The strength of the two major parties has been considerably weakened over the years. The working class claim of the PPP and its subtle practice of “apangatt” (vote for your race) politics has been eroding slowly since the poor Indian sugar workers and rice farmers have not only become smarter politically but have also sought salvation elsewhere. It has benefitted from captive electorate at the polls by using a socialist ideology for working class liberation, which remains an illusion. With the emergence of the PNC, the racial composition of each of these major parties became even more distinct. Indeed, their deliberate strategy to colour the parties both at the executive level and at the base failed to break the entrenched racial voting patterns over the years. While in power, both the PPP and PNC pursued policies and projects and cultivate employment practices to benefit their traditional followers while giving token attention to those of the other racial groups. The programmes and practices of these administrations have well been documented.
While we are again heading for another shaky coalition, we must remember the comments of Trinidad and Tobago veteran politician Dr. Roodal Moonilal who noted that a lesson that should be learned from the Guyana experience is that makeshift and knee-jerk coalitions with a single purpose objective are short lived particularly when given razor-slim majorities. The PNC and PPP must be in a panic mode.
Yours respectfully
Dhanraj Bhagwandin
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