Major players contesting March 2 elections confident of winning

In their bid to contest the March 2 General and Regional Elections, the two major political parties— the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC)— have submitted their lists of candidates and nominators to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and are both confident of winning.

The coalition is seeking re-election for another five years in office. The PPP/C, on the other hand, is looking to return to power after being voted out of office at the 2015 elections, which brought an end to their 23-year rule.
The Opposition party submitted their lists to Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown, just before 14:30h and the processing of their submissions took approximately 20 minutes.
The Party’s Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, who is Deputy Representative of the lists, told reporters afterwards that he is confident of the PPP/C winning the upcoming polls.
“We have a list that is very diverse; a list that embodies competence, experience, youth, energy, and commitment – a list that represents all of Guyana. A list that represents what is needed to take our country forward, a list that shows how we bring Guyana together and how we’re presenting a national team to these elections as we move Guyana to victory,” he posited.

According to Ali, Friday’s Nomination Day proceedings were the start of a journey to victory. He noted that the PPP can answer for its 23 years in office but the APNU/AFC is running from their own time in Government.
“They’re not speaking about their record… about all the promises they made. What happened to those promises? They are hiding from their own promises, they can’t share a manifesto,” Ali contended.
On the other hand, Head of the PPP/C’s lists of candidates, Bharrat Jagdeo, posited that the Party will continue to work hard on the ground to ensure its victory in March.
“What is APNU gonna tell people. Listen to their rallies, their public meetings are nothing about their track record, nothing about their future plans. If you drive around the city you can see what our future plans are because we’ve put them out in a manifesto on the posts etc…,” Jagdeo asserted.

PPP/C Govt economic growth
Further, in a missive on Friday, the Party outlined that during its tenure, the country experienced years of sustained economic growth and unprecedented physical and social infrastructural development. On the other hand, Guyanese are suffering from the wreckage caused by the Granger-led Government’s lack of vision, poor leadership, bad and anti-people policies, inept management, and, most serious of all, the coalition’s stealthy undermining of constitutional rule and democracy.
“The coalition has been a failure; it failed the nation and it failed the people of this nation. In contrast, the PPP/C’s Plan for Prosperity 2020-2025 offers hope and real, tangible benefits for every sector of Guyana, every region of Guyana, every man, woman and child. Our “Plan for Prosperity” is comprehensive,” the Party noted.
It went on to say that the combination of its Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali, and Prime Ministerial Candidate, Mark Phillips, along with its list of several hundred competent and patriotic candidates will succeed since it is armed with a plan for the next five years to restore and transform the nation and the quality of life of all of its people.
“The PPP/C has a proven track record. The PPP/C built a strong and stable economy without the benefit of oil and gas. We are a Party of transformative policies and plans, and we keep our promises. These elections offer each of us a chance to choose the kind of life we and our children will have and the kind of country in which we will live. The choice is clear. Only the PPP/C can rescue and transform Guyana.”

“Good life”
However, Presidential Candidate of the APNU, David Granger, highlighted in a statement on Friday that the APNU/AFC coalition has designed a plan for the country – the “Decade of Development” – which will see the coalition fulfilling its promise to provide a “good life” for Guyanese.
The APNU/AFC was the first party to make its submissions to CEO during Friday’s Nominations Day proceedings. The CEO perused the coalition’s lists – a process which lasted about 30 minutes.
Afterwards, the head of the coalition’s list of candidates, David Granger, told reporters that his party has the “winning lists”. He noted that they clearly laid down the principles and criteria for candidates from the six parties within the coalition to be selected to be on the list.
Granger said he is satisfied that all six partners have complied with those criteria to produce a list of candidates that is balanced in terms of gender, youth and geographical spread.
“I’m satisfied that we went through the process and got the best list and it’s the winning list. We have a proven record and the lists of persons who have chosen, I’m sure, will do us proud in the National Assembly, in the Regional Democratic Councils and of course, in the Cabinet,” he contended.