Fmr GT Mayor Chase-Green, “Mr Wickedee” & sitting APNU Councillor team up with PPP for LGE

– Party attracts huge youth, multi-ethnic support on Nomination Day

By Jaryl Bryan

Monday marked Nomination Day for Local Government Elections (LGE) 2023, with many new faces, including those from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) joining forces with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

Former Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase-Green, sitting APNU Councillor Trichria Richards and popular entertainer and former Councillor Malcolm Ferreira, are among the new personalities who have gone over to the PPP/C as the party vies to take control of Georgetown at the Local Government polls.
They were among the large crowd of PPP/C members and candidates who arrived at the Critchlow Labour College to submit the party’s candidate lists to elections set for Monday, June 12.

Both Chase-Green and Richards were once members of APNU on the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, while Ferreira was an independent Councillor. Chase-Green expressed confidence in both her party of choice’s vision and the list they submitted.
“It was a very smooth process. We just submitted a winning list to Georgetown. And we look forward to full progress, unity, peace, and togetherness. Development of the city. When we’ve come out victorious… we’ll deal with that plan. We already have a plan [to improve the city].”
Meanwhile, Ferreira made it clear that he was with the PPP/C because of his confidence in its plan for the city and the ability to work along with them to get things done. He also noted that since he was always an independent candidate, he could not be accused of “switching” allegiances.

“The Government invested a lot of money in infrastructure. That gave me an indication that persons were willing to work with others. And so here I am… I believe not in blowing my own trumpet, but I would have had a track record already as Councillor,” Ferreira said.
“And the residents of constituency number 10 [can] point definitely to the things I’ve done. In terms of their [being] the largest youth group. Hundreds of children. Looking after infrastructure. Ensuring that single parents and school dropouts get the type of investment and love that they need.”
In an interview with this publication, former APNU Councillor Richards said that her decision to join PPP/C stemmed from her lack of confidence in her former party. According to her, she has confidence in the PPP/C’s plans.

“I have no confidence in the APNU/AFC coalition, more so the PNC. And the PPP is all about development and progress and I want my constituencies to be a part of that. That’s why I [opted] to go with them,” Richards said.
PPP/C General Secretary and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, meanwhile, noted that the presence of former APNU/AFC members in his party’s ranks signals the diverse support the party has. According to Jagdeo, the PPP/C has demonstrated once again it is the only multi-ethnic party in Guyana.
“I think they believe that we’re the only party that can take Guyana forward. And we have a plan for the city. As I said before, APNU has been in charge of the city for 57 years, since its independence. And it’s time that we get a chance to show the city and the people of Guyana, what we can do,” Jagdeo said.
Other notable personalities appearing with the PPP/C were former national and West Indies cricketer and businessman Steven Jacobs, national footballer Jeremy Garrett and social media content creator “Selfie Boss”.

Responses
The defections from APNU meanwhile did not go unnoticed by the Opposition. APNU candidate Troy Garraway, who went into Critchlow Labour College to submit the party’s candidate list to GECOM, sought to downplay the defections and claimed that Chase-Green would not pull votes from the party. He also sought to excuse the party’s low turnout for Nomination Day.
“GECOM kept moving the time of nomination. One time you hear one o’clock. The ideal thing was to do like in previous Local Government, for one o’clock, when our support base who are mostly public servants, could take their lunch hour and come out and support us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the absence of the party’s leaders on the ground during Nomination Day proceedings in Georgetown was glaringly obvious. Former People’s National Congress Reform Member of Parliament James Bond even drew reference to this in a social media post.

He noted that with the exception of the Opposition Leader himself in Georgetown, Member of Parliament (MP) Jermaine Figueira in Linden and MP and party General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams in Bartica, there was a noticeable absence of other leaders on the ground.
“All the Ministers of Government out on Nomination Day, I haven’t seen a single Parliamentarian from APNU, not a single senior party functionary but the Leader Aubrey Norton. My heart broke today,” Bond said, acknowledging that while a few leaders were spread out in the region, there were almost none in Georgetown.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Head Aubrey Norton went to Woolford Avenue sometime after his party had entered to submit their list of candidates. In a video afterward, Norton appealed to supporters not to lose heart after the PPP/C’s showing.
“We must stay focused. We know from our support base on the ground that they will support us and we will beat the PPP in all our strongholds and other areas,” Norton said while addressing his party’s supporters.