The coalition government is now seen as very unpopular
No other sitting government in the history of governance in post-independence Guyana has become so unpopular so quickly than the APNU+AFC coalition government. Comparatively speaking, the PNC and the PPP were very popular in their first five years in power, respectively. The heydays of the APNU+AFC coalition were the months leading up to the 2015 general election and possibly a few months here and there in 2016 and 2017. Credit is given to the latter months only if we are sympathetic and willing enough to rule out the ever consistent mismanaging of Guyana’s resources and the mudslinging practices of self-serving partisan politics. Put in another way, the coalition’s practice of bad politics has upstaged the practice of a minority of good politics. Arguably, the coalition government has become so unpopular that the average Guyanese has now been convinced that the coalition government will not deliver as promised and that its tenure in office will most likely be up in 2020. Guyanese, from various walks of life, have become disgusted and disillusioned by the coalition’s cryptic and unstable policies. Their mantra of expectation is straightforward: it would be Guyana’s first political miracle if things get better from now until the next general election in 2020. There is ambiguity as to how the inflow of oil revenues in the next few years would yield or lead to a better Guyana. Moreover, caustic and controversial remarks from leading politicians from within the coalition government as to who should be the beneficiaries of this and that have only helped to cement their expectations of doubts and despair as well as the belittling and betrayal of trust. The government’s constant call for patience has now become dialectically sanctimonious and poisonous. I suspect the deprived will go to the polling stations with the aforementioned feelings come 2020. Simultaneously, the coalition has hit rock bottom and its ultimate aim now is how to hold on to power and get re-elected in 2020. What an unenviable position to be in after so much blind loyalty and support from even the propagandists and extremists, among others.
The unpopularity of the coalition government started with the proud declaration of the 100 days manifesto, and retroactively speaking, most Guyanese did not realize the full intent of that “political propaganda pamphlet” in 2015. The manifesto was too ambitious and too unrealistic, designed largely to bamboozle the public to vote for the coalition government rather than to deliver mandated goals to the Guyanese public. The first goal was obviously “achieved” but the second one has backfired since more than eighty percent of what is stated in the manifesto is yet to be delivered. Those stated promises in the manifesto are now buried in the dustbin of history. The major disappointments are the promise for constitutional change and a “good life” for Guyanese.
What is also palpable is that the coalition government does not respond well to criticism and pressure from the PPP opposition. It seems to be waking up from a slumber whenever questioned. The PPP/C’s most recent declaration of a noconfidence motion against the coalition and the coalition’s no-show in Parliament soon after is a revealing example of how ill-prepared the coalition is in responding to extreme forms of pressure. What also seems troubling to the coalition is the glaring inability to sort out internal schisms and to chart a positive course forward that will enhance and encourage confidence in and from the general public. On the one hand, we know now that the political marriage mainly between the PNCR and the AFC in February 2015 was a marriage of convenience intended to oust the PPP/C from power rather than an opportunity to practice transformative politics. What a wasted opportunity?
On the other hand, the PPP continues to capitalize on loopholes and weaknesses within the fragile coalition using effectively its experience of 28 years in opposition and another 22 years in power. The result is that the nation has been stunned with the works of the PPP, notably that the PPP continues to expose not only the fragile seam and seal of the coalition government but also corruption, reckless spending and borrowing, fake promises and incompetence in laying down the minimal foundation for a good life. The question or more so the conversation moving forward is: does the PPP deserve a second chance in office to redeem some past mistakes and deliver unfulfilled goals?
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Lomarsh Roopnarine Professor
Latin American and Caribbean History
Jackson State University, USA