Remaining in an Abusive relationship…

…after Cummingsburg

The coalition relationship between the APNU and AFC was explicitly pursued like a marriage between couples. There was the “getting to know each other phase” during the 10th Parliament, when the logic of controlling the Legislature – if they cooperated – pushed them together. APNU was the pursuer, and they went out of their way to please AFC: originally, for instance, they didn’t think much of the AFC’s “no confidence” gambit – but then went along.

The AFC, like most brides, had their last-minute panic attack about whether “they were doing the right thing”: witness Khemraj Ramjattan’s hysterical outburst that his party would be “dead meat” if they hitched up with APNU.

So like some modern brides, the AFC insisted on a “pre-nuptial agreement” – which was dubbed “the Cummingsburg Accord”. When that was announced on Valentine’s Day 2015, even jaded cynics exclaimed, “Awww!”

Launching the campaign at Whim, the conservative Berbice birthplace of Nagamootoo, the latter announced: “They are asking whether this marriage between the AFC and APNU will work… We have to make this marriage work because in the first one hundred days in office we have a lot of work to do.”

Well in the first 100 days, not only was almost none of the promises kept – the heart of the Cummingsburg Accord was gutted when Nagamootoo wasn’t allowed to run the house – or in this case, Chairing the Cabinet. President Granger’s excuse was this “wasn’t allowed constitutionally”, even though Ramkarran – a friend AND a lawyer – disagreed. And this was the start of the abusive relationship.

The Cummingsburg Accord was the first step in any abusive relationship, which is to seduce the victim and make them feel like they are the ones in control. But the APNU knew the power hungry NAGAMOOTOO and Ramjattan were weak. Research shows abusers are drawn to people who already feel powerless in other aspects of their life. Windbags?

The AFC boasted they would walk out if the Accord wasn’t upheld – but they’re still there. Why? Well, there are moments when abusers are kind and the abused party still maintains hope of eventual bliss. Notice the paeans to Pressie??! Studies show that abused women often experience a kind of Stockholm Syndrome in which a victim comes to identify with and become attached to the abuser.

But it’s mainly because the AFC HAS become “dead meat” politically but they have nowhere to go if they get out of this relationship. And like the abused wives of some rich men, they too like the big money, the SUV’s and the titles.

The abuse will continue but the abused Nagamootoo and Ramjattan will stay.

…after the elections

One of the most dramatic moments in recent political sociology was captured in pictures of sugar workers at Wales protesting the government’s decree to shutdown the estate by yearend. The protestors were practically all Indo-Guyanese even though Wales has one of the most “ethnically balanced” work forces in Guyana. Why weren’t all workers out when ALL were being thrown out on the streets to fend for themselves?

It’s another variant of the reasons why folks remain in abusive relationships. In the case of politicians and their followers who remain with them through all sorts of abuse, there’s an even stronger agreement than the Cummingsburg Accord – the Constitution. If the politicians don’t treat their followers right, the latter can just vote them out come the next elections.

But the politicians know they won’t – hence the continuation of the abuse. They’re like abusive husbands who know the abused wives ain’t going nowhere.

They hate the abuse – but they hate even more the other woman who may take their place.

“autonomous” agencies

But there has to be something else operating when “autonomous agencies” – constitutionally protected – go along with governmental bullying.

Is it the fear of visits in the heat of the night?