Befriending the political elite
Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News
April 9, 2007
The propertied class in Guyana has always had an uncanny ability to secure its interests. Over the years the members have demonstrated a remarkable ability to befriend ruling parties that were officially socialist and working class in orientation. Through this skill of befriending the political leadership, they have been able to protect and advance their own interests in the country.
It is quite remarkable in this country that despite the claimed leftist orientation of both the PPP and the PNC, both of these parties when placed under the historical microscope show clear patterns of being beholden to the interests of the propertied class, far more than to the working class.
Throughout our turbulent political history, the propertied class was able to virtually co-opt the political leadership of the ruling elite and they did this not through economic pressure but simply by befriending sections of the leadership of the government.
For example, the PNC pursued a policy of nationalisation and despite the anti-business policies such as foreign exchange and trade restrictions, there was a group of families that was able to befriend sections of the leadership of the ruling political elite and it was this small group of rich families that enjoyed a great deal of benefits under the twenty-eight year rule of that party.
This economic elite did not need to exert any form of political pressure on the government; it simply befriended sections of the political elite in Guyana and through this was able to enjoy class-based benefits.
The PPP also came from a leftist background and by the time political power came in 1992, a new economic elite had emerged in the country, different from the business class that had undermined and destabilised that party in the sixties.
Interestingly, some of the families that benefited under the PNC quickly moved to cement their interests with the new ruling political elite. We had a situation where within some families, one half supported the PPP and the other half held on to links with the PNC. What seemed like divided loyalty was however far from that. It was instead an ingenious means to burn the political candle at both ends and thus secure their interests.
Befriending the political elite became very pronounced during the early days of the PPP. In fact, at Cheddi Jagan's inauguration, the old man found himself in the company of some persons who years before wanted nothing to do with him. So quick was the political conversion of some opportunists within the propertied class, that it was almost miraculous the close friendship they formed with sections of the PPP elite.
Of course it is believed that sections of this propertied class had, as a safety device, provided funds to the political campaigns of both the PPP and the PNC and thus helped to ingratiate themselves within sections of the political directorate.
The economic elite used the art of befriending the political leadership to great effect. I will in a later article discuss in depth the many tactics used in befriending the political directorate and how vulnerable has been the ruling political elite to the advances of the propertied class.
One tactic used was to get a front-man to befriend certain Ministers of the Government and, through this individual, introduce other members of the economic elite to the Ministers.
Another tactic is to use situations of crisis to come to the rescue or assistance of the political directorate and thus create a web of obligation which is weaned through regular contacts with the individual or individuals of the political directorate that are being courted.
In this way, a network of friendships was created and extended and this allowed sections of the economic elite to have great influence over sections of the political directorate.
In some cases the courtship is akin to gaming where the political directorate is the game to be won and a member of the economic elite sets out to “capture” this game so that he can display to all his friends that he has won over the friendship of the member of the political directorate that is the object of attention.
You see it so often these days where the rich parade with their friends in the government as if the latter is some prized “catch” to be showed off. Go to an important event and notice how the rich take great pride in being seen in the company of their “game,” the political elite.
They love to show off to their friends and associates, their “political catch”. Of course when the political catch is no longer of value to them or when the political catch is no longer part of the official circle of influence, he or she is dumped and left to wonder as to whether the friendship was every genuine.
The working class of course also gets excited in the company of the political elite and while the members may be lucky to get a few photographs with some “big one”, they can never claim, like the real political hunters do, to have caught the real “game.”