– Jagdeo confident in ethnic, gender balance
Nomination Day is out of the way and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has revealed that over 3000 candidates have been put forward by his party to contest local elections in all 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs).
PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo (centre) with a segment of candidates from across the country. To his immediate left is Campaign Manager Zulfikar Mustapha and to his right, parliamentary Chief Whip Gail Teixeira
This was expressed at a press conference held at Freedom House on Monday. At the press conference, PPP representatives from all across Guyana were present. According to Jagdeo, a special effort was made to have a list that reflected ethnic, class and gender balance. “We said we want the list to reflect a balance between PPP members and members of civil society … retired teachers, Policemen, retired headmasters, other prominent individuals in the community, people who committed to do social work,” he explained.
“We have many who are active in local government bodies but who are not members of our parties. They may be sympathisers but not members of the Party. And we wanted them included on our list, because they have a great contribution to make in the development of their communities. That was the first principle we established.”
The second principle, according to Jagdeo, was that the list must reflect Guyana. The General Secretary noted that everyone from the intellectual to the fisherman has a role to play in developing their communities. Thus, efforts to include them were made.
“So, we insisted on ethnic balance. We wanted youth and experience. And you’ll see that reflected in our candidates. We wanted more women on our lists. We wanted religious and class balance. We didn’t want all intellectuals and no farmers or fishermen, because they have a role too,” the General Secretary expounded.
“Were we perfect in this situation? No. We sought as far as possible to observe these principles. In many areas, after selecting 3000 candidates, it’s a very difficult process. And so many communities, we’ve had multiple names. And some we accommodated on the PR [Proportional Representation] and constituency component.”
Enormous task
Besides the thousands of candidates, the General Secretary related that there were approximately 20,000 backers – demonstrative of the enormous task before the Party. According to Jagdeo, the Party will contest all Local Authority Area, even the ones whose creation caused PPP to launch court challenges.
Jagdeo noted that 70 of the 71 areas were contested in 2016. According to the General Secretary, this time around some 80 areas were created through gerrymandering. But Jagdeo made it clear that this time around the Party would contest every single area, including the areas that were newly created.
“You know of our concerns about the creation of new local government bodies…that matter is before the courts now, but you’ll recall APNU said we’re worried about contesting in these areas, that is why we went to the courts. We went to the courts to uphold the Constitution and the laws of Guyana. Because it seems that only the PPP as a political party has the mandate now to do this.”
“No other political party is defending the citizens’ rights. And we’re defending the right of citizens to be consulted when you alter their boundaries. Notwithstanding that, we are contesting the LGE in all 80 areas, including the areas that were newly created,” Jagdeo said.
Nomination Day was held on September 21 and the three parties, coupled with independents, submitted their list of candidates. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is in receipt of 61 symbols from these entities, all having thrown their hats into the ring.
