The cardboard political parties

Jul 12, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – Some overseas observers have questioned the reason why the smaller political parties have not encroached onto the support base of the PNC/R and the AFC given the anti-democratic conduct of those parties following the March 2020 general elections. Those parties ended up being exposed and shamed for what has been described as the most transparent attempt to distort the results of an election.

The supporters of both of the PNC/R and the AFC were far from impressed by the post-election postures of their leaders. As such, they did not take to the streets to support the dubious narratives which were being pedaled by both the PNC/R and the AFC.

The shenanigans led to a fallout for both the PNC/R and the AFC. Large sections of the support base of both parties’ supporters are now alienated from their leadership. The AFC is now politically emaciated. Even if accommodation is made for the effects of the pandemic, the turnout of delegates at that PNC/R’s virtual congress suggests that there is large-scale alienation from the party.

So why then did the smaller political parties, namely: A New and United Guyana (ANUG), The New Movement, Change Guyana, People’s Republic Party, The Citizenship Initiative and the United Republican Party, not moved in to fill the vacuum left by those who have moved away from the PNC/R and the APNU.

The primary reason is that all of the aforesaid small parties are essentially cardboard parties. They lack any meaningful following or membership. None of them has a sufficient following which would allow any one of them to host a political rally. Indeed their perceived support is so thin that they may be even fearful of holding a post-election roadside meeting.

These cardboard parties will either disappear from sight before the next elections or will proceed to signal their existence through sporadic press releases and social media commentaries by the leaders.

The cardboard parties are financially challenged. It takes money to have an established party bureaucracy with paid staff. These small parties’ pockets are shallow. Outside of elections, they will hardly attract any financing at all. And without financial resources, these parties have to depend on the media and social media to be visible to the public.

There is an ideological reason why these parties have not been able to capitalise on filling the vacuum left by the loss of support by the PNC/R and the AFC. All of the cardboard parties are petite bourgeois parties. They are not mass-based parties. The PNC/R despite its loss of credibility still retains significant mass-based support. The AFC on the other hand is a petite bourgeois and middle-class party but its supporters are not going to jump so easily into bed with cardboard parties.

The supporters of the PNC/R were shamed and embarrassed by the actions of their leaders during the five months between March 2^nd and August 2^nd 2022. The whole world saw what took place. The election observers condemned the attempt at electoral fraud which would have allowed for the APNU+AFC victory. The Caribbean Community referred to numerous objections made during the recount by personnel drawn from the APNU+AFC. They described these attempts as a fishing expedition.

The leadership of the PNC/R and the APNU appeared oblivious to the shame and embarrassment which their actions were causing their supporters. Those supporters were not fooled. They may not have come out and publicly denounced or disassociated themselves from what took place but they knew the truth. Many were never going to support the discredited narratives which were being conjured up by the parties’ leaders.

A vacuum of leadership therefore exists within the Opposition camp. And none of the existing cardboard parties can fill that vacuum. “The usual suspects” have attempted to do so but they too have been rejected.

A significant section of the Opposition base is thus without leadership. The PPP/C may wish to delude itself into believing that it can poach on the PNC/R’s turf. But history has shown that the PPP/C does not enjoy much affection within the PNC/R base. People may be respectful and courteous; they may come out to government gatherings. But by no stretch of the imagination must the PPP/C believe that it can win the support of those who are disaffected by the PNC/R.

When it comes to the AFC, the PPP/C has a better chance. The PPP/C is no longer the party of Cheddi Jagan. It is now a bourgeois party and the petite bourgeois elements within the AFC who are estranged from that party will find it easy to gravitate to the PPP/C. This is why the AFC is signalling that it is open to lending support to PPP/C policies which it, the AFC, agrees with.

The disillusioned PNC/R supporters need leadership. The danger is if they do not find this leadership, they could end up being manipulated by political extremists.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)