OPINION: Opposition challenge, opposition dilemma

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 March 2025, 22:22 by Writer

By GHK Lall

About 350 to 400 Guyanese dragged themselves away from their television sets and their smartphones and turned up at the Square of the Revolution. It was in a show of solidarity with Ms. Melissa Atwell, more famous (or notorious) as Melly Mel. It is warming that this small crowd of citizens turned out to protest her detention in some federal holding camp in the wilds of the Louisiana bayous. But in that crowd of citizens, I discern a challenge for the opposition, what sticks it with a dilemma. I lay out how what this is saying, as seen from my bamboo tower.

Melly Mel is a social media presence that generates a lot of excitement in the opposition ranks. She also is responsible for considerable resentments inside PPP Government quarters. I don’t know too much about her, other than for the occasional posts sent my way. They are scorching, sure to rub nerves raw in the ruling party’s upper chambers. By the same token, she is the driver of much emotional feeling in the opposition camp. Take a pick: PNC and/or AFC. Without knowing the exact number, I would be surprised if a cyber character as popular as Ms. Melly Mel doesn’t have tens of thousands of online supporters, followers, and whatever else these things are called. Popular cyber character, with the appropriate level of courtesy, is a synonym for influencer, which is putting a politically correct cast on that old one that finds favor with me. Rabblerouser! If that is too rich, try agitator. And, if there are still people squeamish enough to be put off by that, then I settle for the blandness of troublemaker.

The good news for the opposition is that 350-400 showed their faces at the Square. The bad news for the same opposition is that if 350-400 are all who can be mustered out of their beds for a show of numbers, then that’s a very likeable picture for the PPP. If Melly Mel with her thousands of avid watchers can only bring out a couple of hundred, then the prospects are not looking that comforting. If this is a year of elections, with so many left out, and left on the seat of their pants, and still only 350-400 could raise their hands and commit their footsteps towards the direction of the major opposition groups, then that’s a rather bleak outlook. Melly Mel’s situation ought to have shown that Guyanese still have some fire left in them. That there is an emotional connection that galvanizes an emotional response. Passion and outrage. Hoping for better. Struggling to make it happen. Is this an election year, or did I make a mistake with my calendar, or misheard the news?

What could be a bigger national, a sharper emotional, issue than a bloated list? Yet, the turnout in front of GECOM is less than that of a soup kitchen going full blast. I consider whether this means that the PPP has gotten to so many PNC (and AFC) people. I consider also if this is that traditional Guyanese attitude that is now at its fullest flower. Wait and see. Watch and weigh. Leh de addah peeple guh fuss. I can identify well with this. For there are those Guyanese who are always quietly offering encouragement. Keep up with the word. Carry on taking it to those destroying the promise of Guyana. It is a charming setup, and no more. Because, on taking a step back and looking around, there’s nobody else in sight, other than the few hardy souls toiling away in the trenches of the media, and the hallways of the courts. They battle over the environment and permits. They wage war in chambers, and do a damn good job, notwithstanding their lack of ground troops and other resources.

Those stalwarts are out there and working tirelessly for a better Guyana. How is it that an issue as emotional as a bloated voters’ list in the most crucial election year of all does not have a million people out on the streets? Okay, subtract the Venezuelans and PPP loyalists. But, at the least, there should have been several thousands of passionate people out on the road and lending their voices in objection to ‘bloated voters’ list(s).’ Where are they? Perhaps, they are now building a full head of steam. More pointedly, where does this leave the main opposition parties, when the issues that serve as incentives for change are what have to be looked for, and are then either invisible or uninspiring?

This is the picture in March going on to April. The Easter Season will redirect attention to nonpolitical elements elsewhere. Even that I have some doubts about. The point is that another month goes by. Then there is the merry month of May with three holidays, two of which should be rollicking three-day partying. Then, it is midyear, and before Guyanese know it, the end of the year. Before that, the time for two cash grants would have distracted citizens once again, and with justification. If somebody just concluded PPP all the way, they just qualified for a fourth cash grant.

To sum up: the major opposition parties have their work cut out for them. The question is whether they are cut out for the task, the challenge in front of them. This is both theirs and the Guyanese people dilemma.