It is young people who will decide the election

Dear Editor,
In 2011, a very large section of the young population in Guyana will fall in the 19 to 22 age group. This section of the population will arguably be the most critical in deciding who wins the next general elections, providing they are all registered voters who vote on election day. The reason I believe this group is so crucial for the next elections is that many of them would have either  lived their entire lives or most of it until now under the rule of the PPP/C government. This young population would have never experienced anything from the PNC era.

The same way the Obama movement (the then opposition in the US) strategically targeted young people throughout all 53 states to get seriously involved in the electoral process, is the same way our local opposition needs to reach our youths as election 2011 draws nearer.

It is important to recognize that a lot of these young adults today were either in primary or secondary school when extra-judicial killings began to be a news staple in the media. These young minds would have witnessed the years of phantom killings that stalked the land taking with it the lives of many young African Guyanese men. These young people will remember the many roadblocks at Buxton and other parts in Guyana; the many shoot-outs that occurred through the streets of Georgetown during the period when organized crime fought crime.

I use the term organized crime fighting crime loosely, because these same young people would remember that the now incarcerated drug lord Roger Khan is on record as saying that he assisted in the fight against crime in Guyana after the 2002 jailbreak. This young population would have certainly questioned how a criminal boss could be involved in a fight against crime in a democratic society.

Many of the young people in Guyana today would remember the shooting to death of Yohance Douglas and the maiming of Ronston Gray, by members of the Guyana Police Force as they were travelling home from an early Saturday morning basketball game. And if some of them were too young to remember that, they would surely know of the 14-year-old boy who was severely burned in a police station and the recent killing of 16-year-old Kelvin Fraser.

Young people today are very aware of the difficulty of finding gainful employment in Guyana. Many of the young graduates from the University of Guyana and other educational facilities know very well about the scarcity of jobs in the Guyanese job market. Many within the young population really want to see change in Guyana. Many young people with qualifications want to be able to find gainful employment in Guyana.

The opposition needs to seriously think of crafting policies that cater to the young who are the future of this nation. Part of the campaign for election 2011 is ensuring that young people are registered to vote. They also need to ensure that every effort is exhausted at getting the young of Guyana to go out and vote at the next election.

Change must come to Guyana. Change is in popular demand among most Guyanese living in and out of Guyana.

As the opposition prepares to join forces and demonstrate the maturity of Guyanese politics while showing the strength of unity, the young people of Guyana must also show their maturity in accepting the responsibility of becoming registered and going out on election day and voting.

Yours faithfully,
Richard Francois