A total of 13 parties yesterday submitted candidates’ lists to contest the upcoming March 2nd general and regional elections, with the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and the United Republican Party (URP) being the only ones seeking to run in all 10 regions.
It suggests that to all intents and purposes, the general election will be a two-horse race between the APNU+AFC coalition and the PPP/C as despite contesting successive elections over decades, the URP is yet to secure a seat in the National Assembly.
It is now less than two months to the elections which comes at a critical juncture in Guyana’s history as the country joins the ranks of oil producers. The next government will manage unprecedented revenues, amounting to tens of billions of dollars annually from the first project by oil major ExxonMobil alone, with larger projects already in the pipeline. The enormous sums will enable the winning party to set the direction of development of Guyana for years to come and potentially consolidate their grip on power for the foreseeable future.
The governing APNU+AFC coalition is banking that the reputation of President David Granger as a person of integrity will resonate with voters and has made this a key message of its campaign. The PPP/C, meanwhile, has largely turned to former President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is popular with the party’s base and is the face of its campaign, overshadowing its presidential candidate Irfaan Ali, who is seeking the presidency even as he faces 19 criminal fraud charges. Both of the major parties brought out scores of supporters for Nomination Day yesterday even as both made use of the same soca song rhythm set to vastly different lyrics to fire up their contingents as they made their way to the Umana Yana to submit their lists of candidates for the polls.
While 19 parties had previously submitted symbols for approval for use at the polls, by the end of Nomination Day yesterday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) confirmed that those which submitted lists at the Umana Yana in Georgetown were: APNU+AFC, the PPP/C, the URP, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), The New Movement (TNM), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), The Citizenship Initiative (TCI), Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP), the People’s Republic Party (PRP), Change Guyana, The Federal United Party (FED-UP), the National Independent Party (NIP) and the Guyana National Service Party (GNSP).
The Democratic National Congress, the Destiny to Oneness, the Horizon and Star, the Kingdom Liberal Movement, the National Congress of Progressive Peoples’ Alliance, the Cooperative Republicans of Guyana, and the Guyana United Democratic Party were the other parties that submitted symbols for approval. (The NIP had not submitted a symbol by the deadline.)
Following the close of activities, Lowenfield explained that a team at the GECOM Secretariat will now examine the lists for anomalies, including possible duplications, so that Representatives and Deputy Representatives can make corrections before Monday, January 13th.
Additionally, prospective candidates must sign a statutory declaration stating that they are eligible to hold a seat in the National Assembly. Breaches of this declaration have been the subject of much public scrutiny following the 2018 no-confidence vote against government, which resulted in the resignations of dual citizen Members of Parliament (MPs), in keeping with court rulings.
According to Lowenfield, GECOM still has no way of verifying the declarations and neither has the commission provided any directions as to any sanctions to be put in place for violations.
He stressed that the Secretariat relies on candidates telling the truth.
Lowenfield noted that apart from the three parties seeking to contest in all 10 regions, others submitted National Top-Up lists and lists for a minimum of six geographical constituencies.
‘Fell apart’
Among these are ANUG, which will be contesting in all regions except for regions One, Eight and Nine, which its presidential candidate Ralph Ramkarran said were simply too hard to get to. He said that a decision was made to contest in the seven regions which they had “access to.”
Speaking on the party’s lists, he said they were “powerful” and comprise Guyanese from “every walk of life, of every ethnic group, professional people, powerful people….”
“We expect that when the Guyanese people see this list, they will come on board,” Ramkarran stressed, while adding that many supporters of the PPP and of APNU will vote for his party.
“We have a lot of silent support but you know how those big parties are with the harassment,” he claimed.
ANUG had previously announced an alliance with FED-UP for the polls but this did not materialize in a joint submission yesterday.
FED-UP, which launched in Berbice last January, has decided instead to contest regional elections in regions Five and Six.
The party has been campaigning for reforms to Guyana’s electoral system to ensure that parliamentary representatives are directly elected by voters, and the creation of a federal system of government.
The party’s representative, attorney Chandra Sohan, would not address the reason for the announced alliance not materialising.
“I’m not in a position to discuss it right now,” he said of the collaboration, which “fell apart within a few hours.”
For its part, ANUG has declared the time was simply too short to work out an agreement with FED-UP. “We are still on good terms with FED-UP and hope to have informal relations,” Ramkarran told reporters.
Hopefuls
Meanwhile, URP leader Vishnu Bandhu told reporters that although for decades he has failed to secure a seat in the National Assembly, he is confident that this time he will see success.
Like Bandhu, the members of TNM were also confident of success. The party, led by mostly young medical professionals who make up the candidates, told reporters that they are hoping to form the next government but are willing to work with a few seats if that is all the electorate sees fit to give them.
The party is moving forward in regions Three, Four, Five, Six, Eight and Ten.
Similarly, TCI, which launched with much fanfare, has declared that it will only be contesting in the general elections and has submitted the minimum requirements to make it on to the ballot.
The party has submitted lists for regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten and has declared that its lists have managed to surpass gender requirements and include more than 50% female candidates. The legal requirement is one-third.
Party member Ruel Johnson explained that both logistical and socio-culture challenges have forced the party to be more realistic in its objectives.
Change Guyana’s presidential candidate Robert Badal told reporters that his lists, which cover seven geographical regions, comprise young people from all over the country.
He was keen to point out that his party has been able to garner support from hundreds of Guyanese in a mere two months since its launch because “People believe in our message.”
“We have 200 people here. We could’ve had 200 more,” he said.
As the day drew to a close, the Liberty and Justice Party, led by presidential candidate Lennox Shuman, arrived with a small contingent to make its submission.
According to Shuman, his lists, which cover regions One, Two, Four, Seven, Eight and Nine, have the “integrity to withstand international scrutiny.”
He stressed that within the LJP, there are people who are more caring and concerned about Guyana. He also stressed that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship, which would have made him ineligible as a candidate. “The issue has been resolved. I would not perjure myself,” he stressed during repeated questioning.
Crowds of supporters
At the Umana Yana, members and supporters of the parties could not be missed as they were decked out in their respective party colours. Standing in the scorching heat of the midmorning to afternoon sun yesterday, the crowds chanted campaign mottos and waved raised flags to the beat of campaign songs.
However, the crowds did not start at the Umana Yana. A crowd of several hundred PPP/C supporters gathered at Freedom House, located at Robb Street, around mid-morning yesterday. Accompanied by two trucks, one packed with speakers which blasted campaign songs and other songs that spoke of promises, the contingent, whose members were bedecked in red, caused traffic jams as it made its way to the Umana Yana.
Their trek was eventually halted for a bit when they met up with some APNU+AFC supporters at Main and Lamaha streets. The contingent was unable to pass the other party because the coalition supporters completely blocked the way. Police were required to assist in keeping the opposing crowds separated.
The coalition‘s supporters also assembled during the mid-morning hours, with Parade Ground serving as their starting point. Dressed in green and yellow, they could be seen waving flags with the party’s name printed in bold along with a headshot of the president. There were hundreds of young and old persons, who loudly chanted “Forward Ever, Backward Never.” They were also accompanied by trucks containing speakers that blasted campaign songs. They were the first to arrive outside the Umana Yama compound, and converged along the fence.
The smaller parties did not arrive with huge crowds following them and instead had about a dozen or more supporters present for them.
Forming a huge crowd, the coalition supporters blocked the entryway to the compound. As they stood along the fence, they chanted and waved flags in support of the government. The crowd was so large that representatives of some of the other parties had difficulty entering the Umana Yana compound and they were even booed by the APNU+AFC supporters.
The chants by some parties were also drowned out by the coalition supporters due to the size of the crowd. As the hours passed, the coalition crowd slowly moved off from the scene; this was after their campaign leaders had arrived, submitted their lists and left. As a result, there was once again unrestricted access to the Umana Yana.
When the crowds were eventually gone, the aftermath of their presence was a shocking sight of empty bottles scattered along the road just outside the gates of the Umana Yana. (Additional reporting by Lazeena Yearwood)
