“Small parties are the backbone of ‘inclusionary democracy.’ They can energise political opinion by pursuing specific political objectives and constructing a broad political platform across a range of issues to reflect the core interests of their constituencies. They have the potential to protect the rights of women and youth in the electoral process and popularise policies such as constitutional reform, social cohesion, environmental security and prudent governance of the petroleum industry.”
Former President David Granger expressed these views during his weekly programme − the Public Interest. He feels, also, that despite the historical fact that large parties have been a prominent feature of the political landscape, small parties could be the remedy to the sick winner-takes-all political system by forming partnerships.
Mr. Granger pointed out that small parties are not novelties. Dozens have emerged since the first general elections under universal adult suffrage were held seventy years ago on 27th April 1953. Small parties have been catalysts for change despite their inability to win electoral majorities. The United Force won seven seats in 1964 and the AFC won five seats in 2006, for example. Both subsequently coalesced with larger parties to form viable executive administrations.
Seven small parties gained 8,017 votes in the General and Regional Elections of 2nd March 2020. The combined votes of three of them were sufficient to win them a single seat. They were enabled to represent their constituencies in the National Assembly through a pre-election ‘joinder’ agreement.
Small parties can avoid the binary rivalry of large parties whose candidates win the majority of the parliamentary and regional seats. They may be unable, however, to employ staff, enlist media assets, establish headquarters or manage campaigns to challenge the large parties. Candidates without the organizational base, operational capability or representational popularity will be unable to convince constituencies large enough to win parliamentary seats. Mr. Granger explained that these limitations were overcome by the type of cooperation which worked well for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) over the past twelve years.
The former President noted that small parties’ perseverance and permanence for seven decades indicate that they are a political phenomenon which should be encouraged to fulfil the constitutional objective of inclusionary democracy.
