The storms of the last quarter coming loom. Elections. Here I am again. I should be the chair of GECOM; must chat with the Ali-Jagdeo-Norton-Hughes quadrangle, make myself a shoo-in for that most demanding and thankless of Guyanese jobs.
Elections, Part IV: what is to be said today?
Numbers are wrong. Process is unacceptable. People in charge are insipid. Whoever said opposition! Opposition! Opposition! Just won the Scottish Sweepstakes.
Oh yes, there is that one also. Just ask Master of the Games, Proconsul Alistair Routledge. He lives up to the routine: tighter than a drum, and closefisted as a championship boxer.
CEO Darren Woods has the right man for the job here: Just Say No! Ah, from Nancy Reagan to Alistair Routledge; why I like the Yanks so much.
So, what on earth could ye old highlander Alistair have to do with Guyana’s elections? Simply raise the same inquiry with the PPP, PNC, and AFC. Everybody wants to win; nobody wants to get on the wrong side of the man from Exxon.
The opposition has a problem with most things, probably everything under the sun. The government has no problem with anything, other than dreadful folks (like me) who highlight these issues.
To repeat the litany making the rounds. The census numbers are tighter and shorter than a miniskirt -a micromini one, thanks to Mary Quant.
Problem number one; numbers two, three, and four are bloated list(s), biometrics, overseas voters, Venezuelan voters, deportee voters, serial voters, and so forth.
I confess: raced past four. Here is another problem: if a man like me can’t count properly, then how can anyone expect GECOM with the backing of the PPP to count votes honestly and accurately?
Considering all of this, where is this heading? I think the cards favor the PNC-AFC Combo. If that sounds like a string band, it is. All song and no singers. Let me put electoral realities in front of every citizen.
The census numbers are too close for comfort and broadcasting, which explains why the almighty General Secretary has taken up typing and neglected his bigger duties.
A real smart cookie, if anybody asked me. So, the numbers are close, but the PNC and AFC still need that little push to push them over the edge. It is called crossover votes. Political stalwarts are talking to the power people and crossing over.
In contrast, the political people in the opposition are not talking to the common people (unhappy and ready ones), so where in hell are the added votes, crossover votes, undecided votes going to come from? If anybody believes the PNC and AFC stupidee, I encourage them to can the thought.
This is where the mystery man Alistair comes in, have his role to perform. Not Alistair McLean, but Mr. Alistair Routledge. He is a good man, one who gave up a knighthood to rule the roost in this hood.
I can hear Houston (How-stun) calling: what’s the story in GT? Too close to call, and with loud and louder mutterings of “mass protests” and so on. Guyana’s times may not be Orientally interesting currently, but it is certainly warming, getting more exciting by the hour.
Looks like a dead heat in GT. What are the underlying facts and circumstances, and what’s the recommendation from an American who knows these Guyanese? If the winner is contested, subject to great controversy, and the champs are so close on the electoral scorecard, then it has to be a draw.
Whoever hear about drawn elections? I start over, and draw out what I think is the PNC and AFC strategy. If we can’t lose, and we can’t win, then everybody has to be around the table of power. If not, then everything comes to a halt.
A little reminder is timely at this juncture: investors spook easily. Nah me seh dah. Hence, the recommendation is to put all these guys in the same room and let them lead from there.
Goodbye CARICOM and Castries and Chaguaramas. Say hello, my fellow Guyanese, to my fellow Americans: Exxon. The new power broker and fixer. The oilmen have the right man over there in Washington.
There is nobody who likes making a deal more than he. I can hear him: Yo, Marco, get over there and knock some sense in the heads of those, ah, people. Since they can’t agree on a blasted election, force them to work together. Two scorpions in a bottle. Make that three, so as not to insult the AFC.
I think this is the PNC and AFC strategy: clog up the works (not unjustifiably), work the lines in the US, and sit back and wait for all that effort to yield results. How else to explain the almost total lack of interest, total lack of energy, in cultivating the crossover vote. Think racial.
If ever there was a swing vote moment, now is at this time. The Wall Street man in me admires this lazee maan approach to elections. There is the New Yorker who is the consummate dealmaker now the biggest Washingtonian ever. One who can make things happen. Not always for the best. But it will have to do. It is a fine fandango: Ali, Barry, Aubrey. Hughie, and Donny.
