Separation of GTF and AFC reminiscent of split in PPP

by Emile Mervin

I hope this letter spurs the Guyana Third Force (GTF) platform and the Alliance For Change (AFC) to recognise they are about to start walking in the footprints of the PPP and the PNC, and that it is imperative for their individual and collective survival and viability to start making their own footprints in the political sands of our times.

A few weeks ago, the Guyana Third Force platform got launched, much to the surprise of many observers and supporters of the ‘third force’ concept. This was followed by a bit of tension that made it into the newspapers between the GTF and the yet to be launched AFC over the GTF’s use of the term ‘third force’ as part of its official name.

Then came the AFC’s launch last Saturday, with much fanfare, followed by a growing perception that, though the AFC and the GTF share a common objective in ending the dominance of the political playing field by the PPP and PNC, they, AFC and GTF, are literally behaving in a manner reminiscent of the Forbes Burnham split from the PPP to form the PNC.

And herein rests my belief that if, the AFC and GTF do not learn from the past mistakes of the PPP and PNC, then the AFC and GTF are doomed to repeat those mistakes. But that need not be the case.

I distinctly recall much ado in the media about the three R’s – Raphael (Trotman), (Peter) Ramsaroop and (Khemraj) Ramjattan – as being at the core of a political ‘third force’, as all three were making individual waves to that effect.

When Ramsaroop said he was dropping out of politics to focus on business ventures while seeking a civil society role, it never dawned on most, if not all, of us ‘third force’ supporters that there was friction in the ‘Triple R’ camp.

In the interim, our focus shifted to the other two R’s, both of whom, while still riding the crest of the waves created by talk of the ‘third force’, said they were going to launch a political party – the Alliance For Change – to contest the 2006 elections.

On the Internet, meanwhile, a website was created with the name Guyana Third Force, with a connection to Vision Guyana. Supporters of the ‘third force’ concept got on board with comments and views that focused largely on how the ‘third force’ concept could help change the Guyana situation.

Shortly after the AFC got launched, with green and yellow as its standard colours, the GTF website changed its name to the Guyana Third Force (minus Vision Guyana) and started featuring the portraits of leading members of the GTF platform. Even the green and yellow colours were replaced with blue.

As a regular contributor to the GTF forum, I never knew that website actually would eventually become associated with the planned launching of a GTF platform. Not that it would have mattered to my contributions thereon, but I just never knew. In fact, I visited the AFC’s website a few times and, though it is not functioning, I still believe the hearts of the leaders are in the right place.

But by this stage I was quite convinced that there was some friction in ‘Triple R’ camp that caused Mr. Ramsaroop to split under the guise of leaving politics only to re-emerge on the political scene with a different group of known political players.

At the time of this writing, it is clear to me that what we are witnessing in the dual launching of the AFC and the GTF, is nothing more than a spirited attempt to see which of the two will emerge as the real representative entity from the ‘third force’ concept.

Unfortunately, this subtle competitive push has all the trappings of the split that produced the PNC out of the PPP and the mess we are currently witnessing in Guyana. So, unless the principal players involved take a step back from the obvious precipice both the AFC and GTF are heading towards, and act in a responsible and timely manner, they will likely blow their chances of achieving the goal of the big challenge ahead: changing the political status quo.

Besides, thousands of frustrated Guyanese who are counting on a real and effective ‘third force’ to make change happen will likely have another political entity, apart from the PPP and PNC, at which to vent their deep-seated frustration.

The late David Brinkley of ABC’s “This Week with David Brinkley,” once said: “A successful man is one who is capable of building a strong foundation with the bricks others throw at him.” And Thomas Jefferson said, “In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.” To the leaders of the AFC and GTF: please understand the times so you would know what to do.

Turning The Curve

by Keith R. Williams

Within a matter of hours after the official launching of Guyana‘s newest political party, I was able to log into my favorite cyber space room, the Guyana Gazette Forum, and connect pictorially with those happenings. Yep, our own Bryanmaxx, ever conscious and thoughtful of the diasporian interest in important happenings in our beautiful country, used the agency of technology to bring the mountain to Mahomet so to speak. Isn’t the internet just wonderful? The following day on accessing the various newspapers sites I was pleased to see that the two independent dailys appropriately made that launching the feature presentation on their front page. However, surprise, surprise, I accessed the one paper that is ex officio the property of all the people of Guyana and found that for them it was a matter of politics as usual. The headlines for that day read, MISTERY BOAT FIND IN BUXTON. I will leave the grammatical sorting of that headline to the experts and maybe knit pickers among us, but just for the hell of it would like to throw out this question to the nation at large. Don’t you-all think that when a State run nationally owned newspaper pre-empts the launching of a new political party on a turbulent political scene such as ours, with news about the discovery of an inflatable rubber dinghy, you-all should seriously consider adding your voices to the call for immediate removal of this nationally owned asset from the hands of its public caretakers? Just asking a question.

With the official launching of two new political entities, namely, The Guyana Third Force (GTF) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) now completed, I am driven to ponder another question. And that revolves around whether these recent developments in our political culture are indicators that we are finally turning the curve, and moving away from a baseline of race inflected notions and perceptions seemingly indigenous to our pattern of selecting national leadership. Because despite the fact that we have a history of coalitions, and mergers, and coming together of various political organizations and players, this time there is an aura of expectancy and hopefulness at a level we have never experienced before.

Recent polls and census results have triggered a slew of brass faced and facetious pronunciations from some politicians, to wit, that this whole idea that we are a nation that hibernate into ethnic enclaves during elections is a myth, or conjured up explanation to deny the in-roads they are making into non-traditional constituencies. Well, if you live in Guyana, or have ever done so for a considerable period over the past fifty years or thereabouts, and you still believe that kind of crap, then I have a nice piece of land sandwiched between Brick-dam, Water, Hadfield and High Streets I would like to sell to you. And the price is set at rock bottom on the real estate market. Look, we face a dilemma of which race is the most prominent feature, as is often commented on by the leader of ROAR. Burying our heads in the ground like an ostrich and ignoring it is not an adult manner of dealing with this aversive situation. That would be appropriate if we all were infants and had not yet figured out that things do exist even when we cover eyes to hide from them.

As I contemplate the emergence of two new options for the Guyanese electorate, the questions in the forefront of my mind are, what will it take to make that decisive turn at this crucial juncture of our political history? And what strategy can these two new political organizations adopt that will facility a 360 degree revolution in our political behavior? It is not too difficult to come up with answers for the first question. We have to be moved away from the practice of voting for a party because primarily it is associated with our particular racial grouping. We have to be motivated to begin thinking about the kind of Government we desire in terms of its ideological leanings, and economical outlook. We have to be encouraged to seriously accept our obligation to prepare a better and more people friendly social environment for our kids and their kids. In other words, we have to be influenced into superimposing issues like crime, jobs, healthcare, education et al, above the operand of race as the main determinant of how and why we will vote. The strategy for getting us there is what will be difficult.

In the letter column of an independent daily of Thursday November 3rd, 2005, a contributor, very frustrated with the way things are going, claimed that he voted for change in 1992 and it got him nothing. In fact he was worse off than he was before he voted, and he was mourning the death of a parent whose passing was incidental to the economic travails they had experienced. He said he would not “vote for change” again, but would base his choice on a number of things he illustrated. This, to me, is a microcosm of the kind of mindsets the two new political entities will have to tackle. They somehow have to make people, driven to frustration and skepticism about promises made by politicians pre 1992, understand the difference between a change of garment and driver, to a change of direction and a new car. Obviously, the GTF and AFC will secure the services of better minds than ours, we pontificators in the letter columns of newspapers and in forums on the internet. And they will face the unenviable task of developing a strategic message that connects with the rank and file of our people, in order to lure them away from this current pattern of selecting Governmental Leadership.