Recognising that its supporters from the East Coast of Demerara played a vital role during the 2015 elections, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has opened a campaign office at Lusignan.
The office, which is located at 3E Lusignan Public Road, East Coast Demerara, will be headed by the AFC’s Region Four Chair Amar Chinkan.
Attendees at the opening yesterday included party leader and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan, as well as executives Catherine Hughes, who is Minister of Public Telecommunications, and David Patterson, who is Minister of Public Infrastructure.
Hughes noted that at the last elections the AFC gained a significant number of votes from residents of the East Coast. Noting that number, she said, the party decided to open a campaign office at a location on the East Coast aimed at increasing supporters from that area. “We were able to put a strong dent in the PPP’s voting strength in that area and we are convinced that we can do it again,” she added.
She added that despite the AFC being a “very small” party, has made gains at the two elections they contested prior to the formation of the coalition government, which she says would not have been possible without the support of the party. “It was the first time that the PPP were put out of government and it was the first time that the PNC was able to get back into government since the late eighties so we know that the AFC plays a very strategic role and we are the balance of power. That is so because we provide a different kind of governance. We show our supporters that Guyanese can live and work together as one. We do not profess to represent any one ethnic group as some of the bigger parties do,” she stated.
Now that the office is open, she said, members will intensify their campaigning and will worker even harder to ensure that the AFC gains more votes at the upcoming elections. In addition, she said, they have opened several campaign offices around the country, including in Region Three, Six and Five. At least five more will be opened, including one at Number 44 village. In conclusion, Hughes said the party is very confident about its campaign strategies.
During his remarks, Patterson stated that during the 2015 elections, a large number of persons from the East Coast voted for the AFC because they believed what the party stood for. He said the party will continue to stand for what is right and urged people who attended the opening to encourage others to vote for AFC. “Everything that you see is being done, like the construction of ICT hubs, is being done under the coalition government,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chinkan told this newspaper that he is ready to work 24/7 to ensure that the PPP does not get back into power. “I am prepared to work 24/ 7. The reason [for] working 24/7 is that we don’t want what happened for 23 years under the PPP governance to happen again. That is our mission,” he said. Further, he said at the next elections the AFC wants to repeat what happened in 2015, only on a much larger scale. In addition, Chinkan said at least 10 to 15 members will be volunteering each day to get on the road and campaign.
