Struggling to gain relevance, respect in a modern Guyanese society

Dear Editor,
The life and times of the APNU/AFC coalition is enacted as a plagiarised script taken from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. Like the Orwellian story, which started out with the jargon “all animals are created equal,” they, too, started out with the grand theme offering all Guyanese a “good and happy life.” That life, whatever that was, later evaporated into a big hoax; quite an embarrassing feature. So, from the very inception, we knew they were not the party that they portrayed themselves to be. The coalition made a mess of themselves, squandering every available opportunity they had at governing this country, marking up one failure after another. It was a horror story we would never want to relive here again.
Having failed miserably as a Government, they have now embarked on a campaign to regain some credibility and respect in a rapidly changing Guyanese landscape, but they are going about that task in the worst possible way. I am talking about trying it the Old PNC way in exploring every bullying tactic in the book; in the words of the creole proverb, being “wrong and strong.” But what the PNC fail to realise is that respect and relevance are qualities that are earned, they are not characteristics that can be foisted on the people.
Trying the strongarm route will not bring them any success; in essence, every time they try that method, they would only come away looking more backward than ever.
It is like a death row prisoner who keeps repeating a mantra that they did not do it. In the same way, the coalition keeps up a slogan of doing well while in Government when they did not, but they keep persisting with the hope that someone, somewhere will come to believe it. This is their way of freeing themselves from the shackles of guilt that keep bogging them down every step of the way.
We can also see that strategy on vivid display in and out of Parliament, as they keep repeating silly questions over and over again in an appeal to their supporters that they are keeping the PPP/C in control or under pressure. By doing this, they assume the posture of a “strong opposition.” Whether that strategy would bring them any success is yet to be seen. My summation is it will not.
Cases in point are Minister Ferguson’s vain repetition of the word overdraft (as if she is not knowledgeable of its meaning) and Patterson’s verbiage that really amounts to empty rhetoric. In all of this, they are trying to appear useful and relevant to the Guyanese people.
The coalition, as it stands, is morphed into one single entity called the PNC. For them to gain any respect or relevance, they must first clean up their act and begin to operate as a normal opposition. They must give due recognition and support to the Government where and when it is necessary, and constructively oppose when it becomes necessary as well. From this moment onwards, it is an inclusive arrangement of Government all meant to bring peace, prosperity and progress to our nation.

Respectfully submitted,
Neil Adams