By GHK Lall- I believe that PPP General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, is the wiliest of political animals. His sense of distant danger is so keen, his antennae so attuned to his environment, that he is already assuming a defensive posture. Some may see as magnanimity; I see a trap being loaded. Take this startling business of the PPP being willing to work with APNU over WIN (KN September 6, 2025), and I discern a work of art unfolding. Another round for the VP
Divide-and-rule has its merits, but shouldn’t even feature. Because the combined parliamentary power of APNU and WIN cannot challenge the commanding lead of the PPP. Notwithstanding the potential of the raw street, divide-and-rule matters little in the day-to-day governance of this country, as the numbers alone confirm. Those numbers won’t see more than cosmetic change, if any. Looked at differently, the numbers don’t necessitate change in the PPP approach of the last five years.
From the numbers alone, the APNU is on its knees, which makes it bewildering (not to me) that Jagdeo is signaling he is ready to give a hand up. Why not go the other way and kick the losing side out of existence, now that it is gasping for breath?
I recall during the Local Government Elections that it was this same Christlike apparition, Bharrat Jagdeo, who had declared with a straight face that the PPP is a forgiving party, and that We are a forgiving people. When he said ‘we’ he really meant he, as in himself. When he says ‘forgive’ all is forgiven. Maybe APNU would have gathered some more votes, different ones, if his forgiveness still had gas. So, what’s new? So, why this overture of willingness to work with APNU?
Dr. Jagdeo said that the APNU must dilute its hatred for the PPP. There is some substance there, but hatred is not a one-way street locally. Navigating delicately around this sensitive word and issue (hatred), I regret having to assert that Dr. Jagdeo has a mask on his face. COVID-19 is gone, sir. I stake my position on simple electoral and social arithmetic.
Who has been more flexible, if that’s the word, in their electoral choices in different election seasons than Black Guyanese? Even this one of 2025 that is winding down proves that Black Guyanese are more listening, more receptive, to a new approach than any other demographic in this country. I urge everyone to check the numbers. And who are Black Guyanese using the standing formula, if not APNU people? If, therefore, the APNU hatred was so rigid, so complete, then I assert the PPP would get a scant number of Black votes in its bag. It is a bag with many folds, I add for the record.
Instead of making any hard statement about PPP hatred for the PNC, and what that translates to at the individual level, I try a kinder, gentler manner. How many crossover votes did the PNC garner this time around? No one should need a dictionary-local, political, social-to obtain the meaning of ‘crossover’ votes in this particular context. That is, from the PPP support base in favor of the PNC. So, who can it be said is walking around from political organization to individual biological construction with a bellyful of hatred? The APNU/PNC may not have compared that well with the numbers (or its record), but voters are not walking think tanks, bastions of analytical reflection and voting decision-making.
So, what’s the good doctor Jagdeo really up to with his overnight willingness to work with the PPP’s eternal nemesis? Five years ahead might look like a long time, especially with the 2025 elections still warm. Guyanese are focused on 2025, but Mastermind Bharrat is already at the 2030 bus stop. In WIN, he foresees a gathering, threatening storm. If after only a few months of political existence, WIN can make such inroads into the hearts of Guyanese voters, then what? There is no telling what this well-named political group could go, given five years to get its machinery oiled, tuned, and rolling like a Jaguar.
WIN made a loser out of the PNC. If that formidable achievement so quickly, then who’s next for this political giantkiller? Not the PPP, if Mr. Jagdeo could help it. Hence, Dr. Jagdeo puts on his white coat and his white gloves. He is willing to do business with the PNC. He knows those in the PNC who dream of being near oil money. Not everyone in the APNU/PNC is a Dr. Terrence Campbell. See how sharp Jagdeo is. Here is the final chapter: WIN is young, WIN will grow. Ergo, WIN must be neutralized, starting today.
Jagdeo also knows that the PNC needs a lifeline. He has a long one, which can be converted to a noose.
