New group looking to knockout mainstream political parties
…as EBD Nomination Day goes smoothly
By Vahnu Manikchand
Tired of promises from political parties, some frustrated residents from the Grove and Diamond communities on the East Bank of Demerara decided to take matters into their own hands and have formed the People’s Village Movement (PVM) to contest the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).
On Friday, political parties and independent groups as well as individuals across the country flocked the offices of the Returning Officer within their Local Authority Areas to submit their lists of candidates for the November 12 Local Government polls. On the East Bank of Demerara, the process went fairly smoothly at the various locations.
The newly formed PVM members as they head into to submit their lists of candidates for the upcoming LGEs
Prior to submitting the list for his newly formed “movement”, PVM leader, Gerald Forde, told Guyana Times that the group is learning from the mistakes of larger political parties and is aiming to take a hands-on approach to tackle issues affecting the communities. In fact, he said the Movement has already had a community cleaning-up exercise.
According to Forde, while it is generally believed that Local Government is just about cleaning drains and parapets, the PVM will be focusing on other aspects of Local Government such as employment creation, taking care of vulnerable people, tackling crime and turning the area into a hub.
APNU candidates were satisfied with the process after submitting their list for the Eccles/Ramsburg Local Authority Area
Moreover, the PVM leader posited that they have also been working on getting youth involved in the movement. Being 28-year-old himself, Forde explained the importance of this since the youths are considered the leaders of tomorrow.
However, he did point out that it is proving to be a challenge to get young people involved.
Of the nine constituencies under this Local Government Authority, the PVM is contesting in five of them. They were the last to submit their list to the Returning Officer at the New Grove Primary School on Friday morning.
PPP submission
Meanwhile, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) turned up with an entourage at the location and was the first to submit their list, which was accepted after vetting by the Returning Officer.
Heman Ramphal told Guyana Times that they were generally satisfied with the process, which took about 20 minutes. According to the current Grove/Diamond NDC Councillor, the party is confident about regaining majority seats at this year’s Local Government polls. In fact, he posited that they are expecting to win at least 15 of the 18 seats compared to 12 seats won at the 2016 LGEs.
Unlike the PPP, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU’s) list for that area was submitted by two representatives.
Eccles
Meanwhile, at the Eccles/Ramsburg Local Authority Area, the APNU list was presented to the Returning Officer at the Peter’s Hall Primary School just before midday and included in that team was Attorney James Bond, who related that the process there was also satisfactory. However, Bond did recommend for the Elections Commission to go paperless, saying that there was unnecessary wastage of paper.
“It is a complete waste of paper, time, energy, ink and resources. It will be easier for both us the parties as well as GECOM if we can just bring the photos on a flashdrive… We need to go paperless and we have get modernised in this country, it’s not too late,” he insisted.
