… and the glory
At the announcement that the PNC has coalesced with the WPA to contest the Sept 1st General Elections, your Eyewitness is reminded of the old Aesop tale of the mountain and the mouse. Remember that one?? “A Mountain was once greatly agitated. Loud groans and noises were heard; and crowds of people came from far and wide to see what was the matter. While they were assembled in anxious expectation of some massive occurrence, out came – a Mouse!! The moral, of course – and all of Aesop’s tales had a moral, didn’t they? – was “much ado about nothing”!!
So here we are with the Opposition going on at a rate for five years about a coalition to take on the PPP and this is the best “ado” they can come up with?? Sheeesh! Cause this is exactly what a PNC-WPA coalition is – nothing! And as we know out of nothing can only come nothing!! At the end of WWII in a meeting of the Allied leaders, FDR mentioned that perchance the Pope should be invited to the upcoming conclave of world leaders to work out how peace could be achieved going forward. Stalin asked him a simple question that quashed THAT discussion – “How many divisions does the Pope have?”!
The point of the matter when we talk about forming coalitions for elections; the question that gotta be asked is: what’s the prospective partners bringing to the table?? And here the question that should be asked by the PNC is: what does the WPA bring to the table?? And the answer is zero…zilch! Now some may say that the WPA – which Burnham once famously called the “Worst Possible Alternative” – has a bunch of “intellectuals”. But from what your Eyewitness has seen in the last couple of elections all of that supposed intellectualism ain’t worth even a bucket of warm spit!!
In coalition politics, the goal is for the parties coming together to bring votes from their different constituencies. So what’s the WPA’s constituency?? Back in the day when Rodney straddled the party like a colossus, the WPA was able to pull huge multiracial crowds. But that never translated to votes at elections after free and fair elections were returned in 1992. Why? Cause the WPA’s constituency was just small subset of the PNC’s constituency – Afro Guyanese who liked their “gyaaf”. And all the WPA does nowadays is work up African Guyanese racially.
But those “WPA folks” especially ain’t gonna “split their votes” – they all return home to the PNC! And it’s for this reason the PNC-WPA coalition’s like a whale and the barnacles that cling on to it.
The barnacle don’t do nothing for the whale, but gets a free ride!!
…of Nomination Day
The wheels of the electoral machinery are turning inexorably – Nomination Day was announced to be July 14 and the submission of symbols, June 22. First about those symbols – which used to be necessary because back in the day most folks were illiterate – couldn’t even read the name of the parties. Well, we know the PPP’s symbol – they’ve had the cup since 1950!! But what’s gonna be he symbol of he PNC-WPA?? A whale with a barnacle??! And that new kid on he block?? A Lamborghini??
But what your Eyewitness looks forward to is Nomination Day!! That’s like a mini Mashramani every five years!! The Parties gonna be out with their supporters decked out in their party colours – marching, sashaying and tramping to the party song all the way to City Hall to submit their candidates’ names – along with the necessary nominators’!! The size of the crowd behind each party’s banner signals their support?? Will he AFC even show??
Oooh what a sight it will be!!
…of house lots distribution
So there you have it – the 50,000 house lots goal by the PPP achieved within the five years – as they had promised!! Now that alone’s gonna be a game changer in this election!! History’s being created!!
