While the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) welcomes healthy competition this election season, the party finds itself at a disadvantage of opponents who are exercising little to no discretion in making unrealistic promises. This is according to PPP/C Member, Anil Nandlall.
The Executive Member said that opposing parties smell defeat, and therefore, they have no qualms in making unsustainable promises to the electorate. But this, he said, makes it difficult for the PPP/C that is making genuine promises – those that can be achieved.
“And we must welcome healthy competition, but my observation is that politicians, in particular in the opposition, are exercising very little restraint. And indeed, very little reason and discretion in the promises that they are making,” he said in his recent “Issues in the News” Programme.
He added, “I believe it has to do with the fact that they know that they are not going to be in government, and therefore, they will not have to deliver on these promises”.
He noted that the electorate must be able to recognise that while promises made by parties, particularly the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), appear to be grand and beautiful, those parties have a sordid record of not fulfilling their promises.
Nandlall opined that because these parties already know their fate, they are not limited to making exorbitant and unachievable promises.
“So they are not affected mentally, psychologically, or personally by whether they can deliver, because whether they win, lose or draw, they don’t deliver anyhow. So they fall into that category. The issue is also compounded by the fact that they know they cannot win. So there is an added impetus now to make even grander and more fanciful promises,” Nandlall underscored.
The PPP Executive Member, in contrasting that apparent approach to his party, said that the PPP/C has always maintained over the years that it will never make promises that it cannot deliver.
Further, he said that the party has earned the electorate’s trust through a consistent track record of keeping its promises. He hastened to add that despite this, the PPP/C still faces a disadvantage because it refuses to engage in such tactics.
“But when you are competing in an environment where there is promise galore, when promises are made of everything under the sun, sometimes you operate at a disadvantage, because you can’t compete with these unsustainable promises. So, you find yourselves outmatched in the avalanche of ridiculous, fanciful, nebulous and capricious promises.
But that is the price, I suppose, one has to pay if one wants to remain a party that is mature, that is committed, that wants to maintain a relationship of trust with the electorate and who wants to be the credible voice in the electoral campaign,” he concluded.
