The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was caught in the vortex of a series of setbacks ten years ago in 2014. The collapse of its electoral tally by over 54, 000 votes from 220,667 (in 1997) to 166,340 in (2011); the meltdown in industrial relations and downsizing of the East Demerara Sugar Estates; the mismanagement of public security during the ‘Troubles’ in which 1,431 persons were murdered; the spate of negative GDP growth rates, in 2000, 2003 and 2005 and the anemic performance of the economy and, worst, the relentless parliamentary pressure owing to its minority in the National Assembly since 2012 and the prospect of a ‘no-confidence-vote’ – all foretold political catastrophe.
The PPP’s gravest dread was the emergence of A Partnership for National Unity. The General and Regional Elections on 28th November 2011 delivered a majority of a single seat to the combined Opposition and reduced the PPP’s majority in the National Assembly for the first time in 19 years. The PPP’s Parliamentary minority and prospect of losing the presidency, tempted it to destabilise the People’s National Congress’ (PNC) 18th Congress in July 2014 by implementing a plot to remove the PNC Leader who was also Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Former President David Granger, speaking on the programme – The Public Interest – explained that, in light of these adversities and apprehensions, the PPP conceived the Shurian conspiracy to undermine the PNC and APNU which it blamed for its predicament. The ‘conspiracy’ was a desperate plot to displace the PNC and APNU leadership, derail Congress and undermine Opposition cooperation in the National Assembly through deliberate interference in the PNC’s 18th Biennial Congress in July 2014.
The PPPC administration expended a huge amount of state funds from the lightly-managed Community Development Councils and President’s Youth Choice Initiative. Money was spent without due accountability at the time to finance the ‘Shurian conspiracy’ at the PNC’s congress. Expenditure involved hiring a fleet of buses, paying ‘pocket money’, printing brochures and publishing a series of costly, whole-page, newspaper advertisements calling on delegates to confront the PNC leadership on issues in which the PPPC administration had interest.
The former president explained that the PPPC administration had invented ‘slush funds’ through four hundred Community Development Councils with a billion-dollar budget to be used for miscellaneous expenses and to conceal the true character of their transactions from public or parliamentary scrutiny. Hundreds of millions of dollars withdrawn from the Lotto Fund – which the administration deliberately withheld from the Consolidated Fund in order to avoid parliamentary scrutiny – were also expended on the President’s Youth Choice Initiative.
Mr. Granger pointed out that the big challenge came with the APNU and AFC Opposition parties’ plan to move a vote of no-confidence against the PPPC administration in the National Assembly for failing to conduct Local Government Elections for nineteen years. To pre-empt this eventuality, the President prorogued the National Assembly on 10th November 2014 for six months, after which General Elections were to be held.
In the final analysis, the PPPC-instigated Shurian conspiracy collapsed! The PNC’s leadership was consolidated, enabling elections for Party officers to be conducted in a free and transparent manner in accordance with the Party’s Constitution with participation of the accredited delegates.
Ten months later, the APNU+AFC Coalition won a majority in the General and Regional Elections on 11th May 2015. The PPPC’s woke up to the nightmare of a shock defeat that gave Guyanese the opportunity to loosen the stranglehold of the PPPC’s patronage networks and its grip on the populace.
