The third force was poised to be kingmaker. Both the PPP/C and APNU needed its support to secure leadership spots and it, too, was nicely positioned. Instead, its non-committal stance on supporting either side, mistrust and perceived deception, doomed its chances; its political naivety unable to counter manoeuvrings that resulted in it being shut out, an obscure law deployed to expose its weakness.
National politics? Not quite but according to political analyst Dr Henry Jeffrey, a manifestation of Guyana’s pervasive political unaccountability. It all went down on November 30 when the elected members of the Beterverwagting/Triumph Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) turned up to take their oath of office following the November 12 local government elections (LGE).
The players: the 8th of May Movement (8MM), a community grouping, and national heavyweights, the PPP/C and APNU. At the elections, 8MM won four seats, the PPP/C six and APNU eight seats. At stake were the chairman and vice-chairmanship of the NDC. Outside of both supporting each other, the clearest path for the heavyweights to gain the positions was with the support of 8MM and both courted the grouping.
