However, for the first time the PNC’s middle class support migrated to another political party in 2006. The AFC, led by Raphael Trotman, secured 8 percent of the votes. The PNC, which recorded an historic low of 34 percent, a loss of 6 percent, was led by Robert Corbin with whom, it had been alleged, the African middle class was not enamoured. The PNC’s vote returned in 2011 upon the change of leadership to David Granger. The AFC, which lost the African middle class support in 2011, Khemraj Ramjattan being the new leader, tapped into the dissatisfaction of the PPP’s working class base and kept ahead of the game with 10 percent leaving the PPP with 48 percent, a loss of 6 percent. While it was its working class supporters that delivered the blow, its middle class support remained intact.

The lesson here is that whether Indian or African, the middle class would be prepared to punish its party if it is recalcitrant according to its assessment. The AFC provided a home for the African middle class in 2006. The question is whether the Indian middle class will potentially see the AFC as a home in 2015 if it harbours dissatisfaction for the PPP.