THE AFC MELTDOWN IN NEW YORK

September 22, 2013, By KNews, Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom, Source

The Alliance for Change, itself a creature of political defections, has now become a victim of political defections, with some figures from its New York grouping opting to leave the party and reportedly entering into an arrangement with APNU to develop structures to “improve governance, promote national unity and advance human development.”

At least three persons from the New York grouping are believed to have departed from that party and it is rumoured that the fallout can extend to even more members, as an implosion within the New York chapter of the Alliance for Change (AFC) deepens.

There is no indication that these persons who have abandoned their allegiance to the AFC have joined APNU, but talks were reportedly held by some of them with APNU. So at this stage it would not be fair to state that these persons have defected to APNU. It would be more accurate to say that they have defected from the AFC and are seeking to make a contribution to the Guyanese political process through other avenues.

This need to feel that they are making a contribution may be one of the prime reasons for the problems in the New York Chapter of the AFC, which in recent times has been bedeviled by discontent. Two members resigned just last week over problems within the grouping, with one of them claiming that they were subjected to all forms of character assassination and abuse.

The avalanche has continued with this week’s high-profile defections.
The AFC has responded to the defections by expressing its disappointment, but indicating that it respects the right of those persons to do as they did. The AFC said the party will move on.

These sentiments indicate that the leadership of the AFC does not intend to lose any sleep over these defections. However, given recent events locally within the AFC and the discontent that this had bred amongst some of its overseas supporters, the AFC may be in the throes of a mini- meltdown which may not be only confined to the New York membership.

One of the problems that parties such as the AFC face is how to accommodate the views and demands of its strong middle class base. This middle class base ultimately wants to have a greater say in the decision-making of the party, and since this base is not located alone in Guyana but is also spread within the Diaspora, ways often have to be found to ensure that these persons are made to feel that they too are directly part of the leadership discourse and decision-making.

It remains a challenge not just for the AFC, but for other political parties to decide just how they can avoid that segment of their membership residing outside of Guyana and who form part of the middle class and thus eager to exercise leadership, from feeling alienated from the decision-making and policy direction of the party. It remains a challenge for all parties, but more so for parties with a strong middle class base.

The middle class elements will continue to believe that they should be more involved in decision-making and may never be quite content with merely conceding this right to the existing leadership.

Political parties have executives, and it is these executives that are elected to attend to the day-to-day decision-making of the party to develop policies in between annual congresses of their parties. Groups do meet and submit their positions, but always they must defer to the executive which is empowered to determine the policy directives of the party.

The fallout from the AFC may be as a result of persons feeling frustrated at not being able to sufficiently influence the direction of the AFC or being at odds with the positions being taken by the AFC or both.

It is not likely that only one issue led to the recent defections. The controversy over the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project would have led to some rifts within the party, but this alone would never have been sufficient enough to lead to the recent defections.

It is clear that there are serious problems in the New York group of the AFC and that further bleeding may be possible, unless the AFC takes serious action to stop the hemorrhaging.

Many years ago, the AFC had floated the idea of having one of its parliamentarians come from the Diaspora, and while reverting to this may be one way of mitigating the present alienation of foreign-based members of the party, it cannot be entertained at the moment in practice, because of the need for the AFC to ensure that every one of its members is present at every sitting of the National Assembly, so as to maintain the combined opposition’s one-seat majority.

The AFC therefore may have to look to damage control, but even if it is not able to do this, the Diaspora, as the PPP discovered during the last elections campaign, are no longer as important to the finances of political parties as they once were.

In short, the local political parties can do without the financial backing of the Diaspora, but they will be affected by mass resignations, since this will amount to a significant loss of confidence. A mass defection of members will hurt the AFC’s image and support, but not necessarily its finances.