GEORGETOWN – A damning post-mortem of the Opposition’s performance in the recent Regional Democratic Council (RDC) elections has been delivered by political analyst Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who claims the newcomer We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Party and its leader, Azruddin Mohamed, have “failed miserably” in their very first major political test.
Dr. Ramsammy’s commentary follows the swearing-in of RDC councilors, where the ruling PPP/C won the Chairmanship in eight of the ten regions, including key regions that required Opposition cooperation to defend. The analyst’s core assessment: WIN, which displaced the PNC-led APNU as the main Opposition party with 16 parliamentary seats, showed a complete lack of political agility and maturity.
The Failure to Negotiate
The analyst argued that the election results in Regions 4, 8, and 10, where no single party had a clear majority, mandated pragmatic negotiation among Opposition parties (WIN, APNU, and FGM).
Dr. Ramsammy pointed to specific losses:
Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica): Despite the Opposition commanding more votes collectively, the PPP secured the Chair and Vice-Chair after APNU, FGM, or WIN councilors allegedly voted for the PPP candidate under the secret ballot, a loss WIN could have prevented by striking a deal with APNU.
Region 8 (Potaro-Siparuni): The PPP successfully negotiated with the PNC-led APNU, allowing the APNU to take the Vice Chair in exchange for the PPP taking the Chair, a clear “loss for WIN” that allowed the PPP to control another region.
Region 10 (Upper Demerara–Upper Berbice): The election for Chair ended in a critical 9–9 deadlock between APNU and WIN candidates. Dr. Ramsammy claims this tie, when WIN only needed one vote to win, signals a profound “inability of WIN to effectively negotiate.”
Dr. Ramsammy stated that the reality was for WIN to make its offer to APNU more attractive than the PPP’s offer, claiming that the PPP had offered APNU the Chair’s position in Region 10 in exchange for the Vice-Chair. “WIN showed they lacked the experience to managed this situation. They failed,” he wrote.
From RDC to Parliament: A Troubling Precedent
The analyst warned that this failure has serious ramifications for WIN’s performance in Parliament, where negotiation is required almost daily. Dr. Ramsammy specifically highlighted crucial votes requiring a two-thirds majority, such as on the Appointments Committee, questioning whether WIN can effectively align the Opposition votes.
He predicted that the upcoming votes for Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be the next major test. “WIN’s failure in the RDC elections for Chairs and VCs raises serious doubts whether they would be able to mobilize and align the opposition’s strength in parliament to oppose the PPP,” Dr. Ramsammy concluded.
He criticized the WIN leadership for resorting to “crying like a spoilt brat” over the results, instead of demonstrating the practicality and political pragmatism required for their constitutional obligation to represent their supporters.
