With just over two weeks remaining before the 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE), the Alliance For Change (AFC) party is confident about the upcoming polls despite getting in the race late in the game.
General Secretary Marlon Williams (third from left); along with Region Four District Chairman, Michael Leonard (right); Constituency 3 (East-Central) Bartica, Juretha Fernandes (left); and Central Mackenzie, Linden, representative, Devin Sears
The AFC, a minority party in the coalition Government, believes it will be successful at the November 12 Local Government polls, according to the party’s General Secretary Marlon Williams during a press conference at the AFC’s Kitty headquarters on Wednesday.
“We, the Alliance For Change, feel confident that we will be successful in these Local Government [Elections] because what we have done is – to grab our slogan – we have selected ‘fit and proper’ people within those NDCs (Neighbourhood Democratic Councils) and constituencies,” Williams said.
He went on to note that the core of the AFC remains its spirit to effect change and in achieving this going forward, it has turned to a young, fresh and vibrant slate of people.
The AFC will be contesting 38 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAA).
In fact, the party’s Region Four District Chairman, Michael Leonard, told the media conference that despite starting late in the LGE race, the AFC has managed to secure more 161 constituency candidates and is fielding more than 600 representatives in total.
On the matter of constituency candidates, the AFC’s candidate for Constituency 3 (Central Mackenzie) in Linden, Devin Sears, echoed similar sentiments, saying that the AFC is a beckon of hope for the people of Linden.
He further added that despite being a young party, the AFC is a force to be reckoned with.
“Linden sits in the heart of Guyana, but everything seems to pass through Linden… The people are fed of the same cycle over and over. We’ve had one party that has never lost Linden and we’ve had one party that has governed the country but ignored Linden so I think it’s time Linden has a change now, we cannot wait. We need to start opening up our eyes to see our town/municipality is not owned by any party and the AFC is as strong as any other party contesting the Local Government Elections,” he posited.
According to Sears, the high rate of unemployment is high among the list of issues that the party intends to tackle if it emerges successful at the November 12 polls.
Meanwhile, his fellow party representative in Constituency 3 (East-Central) Bartica, Juretha Fernandes, outlined some of the key areas her party is focusing on going into this year’s Local Government polls, including transparency and accountability, youth empowerment and involvement and economic enhancement.
“[Bartica] still can be considered a new municipality and there’s a lot of things that [are] going on there; that persons are questioning the accountability aspect of what has happened since the 2016 Local Government Elections to now. I can confidently say that as a member of the Alliance For Change, accountability is something we pride ourselves on. In everything that we do, we believe that the process must be transparent to every residents and no stones must be left unturned in doing so,” Fernandes, who is also the party’s Deputy Campaign Director, posited.
After failed talks earlier this year with its coalition partner – A Partnership for National Unity – the AFC announced back in May that it was going to contest this year’s Local Government polls on its own.
