With the outcome of the recent general elections, former WPA executive member Eusi Kwayana believes Guyana has its best opportunity to end years of bitter rivalry between the major races and he says now is the ideal time for the political parties to work towards a national unity government.
Former president Bharrat Jagdeo says he will not be taking up any formal position in a Donald Ramotar-led administration, but he is prepared to assist the new president in a more informal way.
Faced with running a minority government for the first time in Guyana’s history, president-elect Donald Ramotar says he is prepared to work with all political parties to take Guyana forward.
The major parties appealed for calm yesterday as results from the elections continued to trickle in and figures from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the AFC pointed to a possible close race for the presidency between the ruling PPP/C and opposition coalition APNU.
While all parties are seeking an overall majority in tomorrow’s election, should it happen that the poll produces a winner who commands less than 51 per cent of the votes, Guyana could have a minority government which is dependent on compromises with other parliamentary parties to ensure the passage of legislation in the National Assembly.
In his final public pitch to the electorate before tomorrow’s poll, Alliance For Change (AFC) presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan last evening urged Guyanese to remain focused on electing his party so that it can change the culture of corruption and indecency that has gripped Guyana.
The incumbent PPP/C could struggle to gain 50 percent of the votes at the upcoming elections because of internal changes within the party in addition to its failure since 2006 to address some critical issues of concern to Guyanese, former PPP/C minister Dr Henry Jeffrey says.
The incumbent PPP/C yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s voter education programme ahead of the November 28 polls, and urged that the body improve on its efforts especially in targeting first time voters.
The four presidential candidates yesterday presented their visions for overhauling the education sector, creating jobs and ensuring unity if successful at the November 28 polls, at a University of Guyana (UG) forum that ended abruptly during the scheduled question and answer session.
Former Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira yesterday accused former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix of failing to control the crime spree during his tenure at the helm of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), saying he was diverted by a very narrow focus on now convicted drug lord Roger Khan.
Opposition parties APNU and the AFC are clashing with the ruling PPP/C administration over the distribution of flood relief to Lethem residents over the weekend– with the opposition parties accusing the ruling party of “elections bribery”.
In sharp contrast to the atmosphere that greeted the PPP/C on Thursday night, the residents of Buxton last evening warmly embraced opposition coalition APNU whose leaders promised that a David Granger led administration will ensure that the village experiences the healing, reconciliation and justice that it yearns for.
Facing a somewhat hostile reception last evening in Buxton, senior PPP/C member Gail Teixeira expressed remorse at the crime spree that gripped the village a few years ago and called on villagers to ensure that it is never repeated in Guyana.
With just over a month before elections, presidential candidate for opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger believes that his policies are what set him apart from the other candidates, especially that of the incumbent PPP/C, which he says faces greater resentment now than in past years.
Describing it as the most difficult decision in his life, Moses Nagamootoo yesterday resigned as a member of the PPP, saying that he had lost faith in its current leadership.
Constructing the Amaila Falls hydropower plant at a cost of US$835 million will not reduce the cost consumers have to pay for electricity and may not be the answer to the country’s energy needs, the AFC’s economic advisor Dr Tarron Khemraj says.
President Bharrat Jagdeo last evening announced that he will be temporarily lifting his four month suspension of CNS Channel 6 until December 1 saying that he does not want the opposition parties to have any excuse for the “resounding defeat” that awaits them at the November 28 polls.
Joseph Hamilton says his decision to join the PPP/C is testimony to the evolving nature of politics and has nothing to do with him being a ‘political grasshopper’ or political opportunist but rather because he believes that the PPP/C is the soundest political entity in Guyana.