By GHK Lall- I think that the Hon Leader of the Opposition (LOO), Mr. Azruddin Mohamed, blundered. Three Local Govt seats in hand. One went to the Hon Ms. Amanza Walton-Desir’s Forward Guyana Movement. Good! The second should have gone to the APNU. Would have been reflective of long-term thinking. Indicative of strategic positioning. Mr. Mohamed erred twice.
For sure, there’s some bad blood over the GECOM seats. Them being held, despite the optics. Despite the September 2025 numbers. Also, there has been disconnections and disagreements over governance in the regions. Individually or collectively, these aren’t de minimis matters. In contrast, there’s that vision, the ultimate objective. It is to change the power dynamics four years hence.
A fragmented opposition is no opposition. It’s the dissipation of all energies. No two ways about it; no revisiting nor amending of that reality. I think that Mr. Mohamed, as the new LOO, had a golden opportunity to present a different kind of leadership. The kind neither seen nor heard nor known in the annals of this country. He slipped. Lost some ground. He needs allies, not more adversaries.
For what is politics if not the art of compromise. Something found objectionable in Guyana. And if politics is not about sacrifice, then what else can it be? I appreciate that in Guyana, however, politics is the pathway to become filthy rich.
The WIN leader, now holding the office Opposition Leader, promised to be a man apart. From the old. From the tired. From the self-destructive. Regrettable that when opportunity presented itself on how magnanimous he could be, he resembled all the ghosts that went before him. Plus, the ones in the current era with whom he coexists uneasily.
On the issue of sacrifice on a personal level, a digression is timely. There are people in the ruling party who have been bypassed for higher positions. It seems that they still lag, when 2030 is discussed. They bite their tongue, stuff their ears, tighten their lips, and continue stoically. Sacrifice, I say. For group ambience and endurance. Holding together, binding as a unit. Despite disappointment with the team. Only its continuing success matters. The newer entrants into the political fray can learn.
Another attribute is alien to local traditions and thinking. Give something to get something. Relinquish a seat. Opens discussions on some other seats. If WIN stays on one side of the bridge and the PNC sticks to the other, where’s the vigor? What probability of sitting around a table, putting heads together, working out a way forward?
One side sticking it to the other, with the favor returned, doesn’t help one voter. Nor does it aid any party. Nor does it transform any leader into an inspiring figure. A unique one. Because there’s willingness to set precedents. Even at the expense of loyal soldiers. The politics of grudges, leadership energised by vengeance, is counterproductive. The only beneficiaries are the well-entrenched, smirking, incumbents. Is that an objective? If it is, then it is better to call it a day and let reality and history extend indefinitely.
No question that there is uncertainty, there’s anxiety, within the opposition fold. When there is looking at one another and seeing competitors, or underminers, then the battle is already half lost. Somebody has to break the ice, scale the divide. It doesn’t have to be public. It just has to be strategic. Play the cards that are in hand. The numbers and environment don’t favour now. But when the census could conceal the demographic composition of Guyana, there’s a clue. There’s inspiration. Mr. Mohamed has to think big and think broad, too. Last, he must cease operating like a lone ranger. For that would be the recipe that best suits the people with the power.
