There are some political events that represent milestone events, that shape how the future looks. Local Government Elections 2023 are one of them. Politics in Guyana — which after 1953 reflected the racial polarisation in our country, which dominated the way the vast, vast majority of Guyanese people voted — is probably going to play a significantly diminished role in the future. This does not mean that ethnic and racial considerations would disappear forever when the Guyanese people make their political choices, but the weight that ethnicity and race play in how and why people make choices in elections will be reduced significantly. This has major implications for development, and major implications for President Ali’s ONE GUYANA promise.
The PPP is clearly the only national party in Guyana today. Nomination Day for the June 12 LGE underlined that, when the party was able to field candidates for all the 610 LGE constituencies. The other major political party, the PNC, could only run as a so-called coalition (APNU), and could only field candidates in 55 of the 80 Local Government Areas (LAAs) in 260 constituencies. A political party that sees itself as a national party when it is not able to field candidates in about 55% of the constituencies in an election raises major questions about its capacity to function as a national political party. Since 1957, no matter how questionable, the PNC was able to represent itself as one of two national parties, with reach in every region of Guyana. In LGE 2023 this has changed. The PPP competed everywhere: in all regions in all constituencies; within constituencies dominated by Indo-Guyanese, Afro-Guyanese, and Amerindians, and within constituencies where other ethnic and racial groups have an influence. The PNC was able only to focus its attention on its “strongholds”, which invariably are dominated by Afro-Guyanese. Parties like the AFC, WPA, ANUG, the URP etc. are small political parties that became nonexistent or became even more diminutive.
The LGE results have now become apparent also. The PPP has grown in its national appeal, attracting support everywhere in all 610 constituencies. In a few of these constituencies, the PPP gained a small amount of support. In others, the PPP gained significant cross-over support. Clearly, the strongest support base of the PNC has been in municipalities, where the population is dominated by Afro-Guyanese. In Georgetown, Linden, New Amsterdam, Bartica, and Mahdia, the PNC was unchallengeable in past elections, either national or local. LGE 2023 completely removed this shield for the PNC.
In constituencies dominated by Afro-Guyanese in the city, and in towns controlled by the PNC from the party’s formation or from the formation of the town, the PPP gained support. In at least three towns, the ethnic and racial cross-over votes were almost or altogether enough to give the PPP control of the councils. While the PNC was able to hold on to the City of Georgetown, the PPP gained more seats, increased its overall percentage of votes, and gave a signal that the PNC’s absolute domination in Georgetown is over. Mahdia is now a PPP town. Bartica now is a tie, but with PPP-plurality. New Amsterdam will be an 8-6 Town Council, with the PPP increasing its number of councilors by 100% and its voting strength by about 140%. This is the story in the NDCs too.
People decided in LGE 2023 that ethnic and racial voting is not in their welfare, not in the interest of their families and communities. This is the trap that the PNC found itself in. It continues to exist on the basis that the party is an Afro-Guyanese party, and that the party is for and of the Afro-Guyanese people. It has always based its existence this way. This is in complete contrast to the PPP, which has always insisted that it is not an Indo-Guyanese party, and that it will not be based on promoting only the interests of the Indo-Guyanese people.
This does not mean that the party was oblivious to the reality that the Indo-Guyanese people found comfort in the PPP. After decades, the party which has been the home of the majority of Indo-Guyanese and Amerindians is now finding itself the home also of a growing number of Afro-Guyanese and people of other ethnic and racial groups. The PNC, which also had been the comfort zone of the business class, has now alienated this group, which is finding a comfort zone in the PPP.
By breaking ethnic and racial barriers, the PPP has finally succeeded in its founder-leader’s mission – people must consider their political options on the basis of trust, ideas, accountability, and transparency and competence.The PPP entered the LGE 2023 with these as their major promises to people, and on their track record. The PNC, for unfathomable reasons, decided to push its ethnic and racial politics. It deemed the PPP’s efforts to have a discourse and build trust with the Afro-Guyanese population as an intrusion into the personal space of the PNC, and on stealing its God-given “property”. Thus, Afro-Guyanese who decided to support the PPP were deemed “soup drinkers” and “house slaves”. This insult to the Afro-Guyanese people was not left unpunished. Politics will never be the same in Guyana. President Ali and the PPP’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, have brought alive 1953, and have shown that ONE GUYANA is a real thing.
