The end… of an epoch 

Nigel Hughes, the leader of the AFC, just resigned!! It was not surprising, and in fact, it was expected. The AFC, after all, was the biggest loser in the Sep 1st elections – they didn’t even get a single seat in Parliament!! This is seen as a minimum accomplishment for being recognised – much less taken seriously – by the powers-that-be in our local politics!! In Guyanese politics, being without a seat is equivalent to “not having a pot to piss in” for ordinary folks!!
What must hurt more than anything else is that two parties – WIN and FGM, which just sprouted literally overnight – were able to respectively snag SIXTEEN and one seat!! Meaning that folks were willing to vote – but just not for the AFC. What happened?? Was it all due to Nigel since he said the debacle was “his responsibility”? Well… not quite!! Even though, if the truth be told, he had an outsize role. It was a long time coming, and so, as we were advised in “The Sound of Music”, let’s start at the very beginning!!
The AFC was founded by (then) two VERY ambitious young men – Trotty from the PNC and Ramjhaat from the PPP. Even though he’d only just been brought in by Hoyte, at the latter’s passing in 2002, Trotty felt he should lead the PNC rather than Corbin – who’d literally grown up in the YSM and then the PNC!! Ramjhaat had also cut his teeth in the PYO and felt HE rather than Jagdeo should’ve gotten the nod by Janet to be part of her 1997 “A-team” and in the line of succession! Jagdeo ran in 2001 and defeated Corbin to become President!!
By 2003 the two of them quit their respective parties but squatted in their seats in Parliament and – encouraged (wink! wink!) by the Yanks – they launched the AFC with Shiela. Their spiel was they were “multiracial” in their persons and would be a buffer between the old fogeys PPP and PNC and do the right thing by supporting either of them for Guyana’s benefit!! They bagged 5 seats!!
But that was the beginning of the end – they started playing footsies with the PNC and blocked AFHEP, which was good for Guyana!! They were cynical politicians who wanted power to get a piece of the action!! They coalesced with the PNC in 2015 to oust the PPP Government – but also outed themselves!! Naked power grabbers OK-ing PNC’s rigging!!
Nigel got into the act when he proposed the 32 greater than 33 nonsense – in a futile effort to have the AFC/APNU remain in power!! His latest outlandish coalition demands on Norton for the Opposition leadership were the nail in his – and the AFC’s – fate!!
RIP!!

…of Aubrey?
Unlike Nigel, Aubrey – who suffered an even more humiliating loss – has made it clear he ain’t going quietly into any night!! He’s railing against fate – and everybody in sight!! – the PNC’s debacle is their fault! Your Eyewitness could bring up his rigging the internal PNC elections for leadership – which cost him several solid members of his team. He could bring up the alleged sexual harassment of Kissoon and so many other actions that hurt his party. But hey…this is the PNC, and that’s par for the course!!
Aubrey should go because his time is up. Politicians – like every other product – come with expiration dates, and Aubrey is well past his. For what it is worth, Nigel’s middle-class coloured politics have also expired because the scorn of the Scrapes that whupped both of them is for a different time – this time!! And dis time na laang time!!
Aubrey’s gonna embarrass himself – not just by more exits by his executive – but because his WPA bestie’s gonna constantly expose his misreading of the times!!

…of Garbage City?
Well, Pressie’s had it with the M&CC’s kerfuffling on taking care of what was one of the wonders of the British Caribbean – our capital, then called the “Garden City”.
He’s gonna fix it – like City Hall!!