Over 5,000 young people attend PPP’s Youth Conference in Region 3

…as GS highlights future opportunities

The ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Sunday continued its efforts to build its youth arm with yet another successful conference held in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

Over 5,000 young people across the region attend the Youth Conference held at the National Track and Field Center at Leonora, West Coast Demerara.
The party’s General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, delivered the keynote address, focusing on the history, legacy, and future of the PPP’s youth arm – the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO).
Dr Jagdeo recounted the critical role the PYO played in shaping the PPP’s political efforts, particularly during the party’s opposition to the PNC dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. He noted that many of the Party’s current leaders, including himself and President Dr Irfaan Ali, started their political careers in the PYO, which has long served as a leadership incubator within the PPP.
Jagdeo, who is also the current Vice President of Guyana, encouraged the young attendees to embrace the discipline and dedication that have sustained the PPP and PYO over the years. He emphasized the Party’s focus on fostering new generations of leaders and stressed the importance of youth engagement in shaping the country’s future.
In addition to highlighting the Party’s historical achievements, Jagdeo also discussed the PPP/C administration’s plans for Region Three and the country as a whole. He urged the youth to take advantage of the opportunities for personal and professional development being created under the current government.
Following Jagdeo’s speech, participants engaged in an interactive question and answer session with the General Secretary.
The conference was part of the PPP’s countrywide efforts to connect with and recruit younger members into the PYO, strengthening the Party’s future through youth involvement.
Only last month, Jagdeo told reporters at press conference at the PPP’s Freedom House Headquarters that the party is making significant strides in engaging the youth of Guyana. In fact, over 9000 young people had participated in the party’s youth camps and conferences to date.
The last youth conference was held in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), where some 3,282 young people from across the region were in attendance.
The event had attracted criticisms by some quarters – something which Jagdeo dismissed at a press conference last week.
He acknowledged that the PPP’s youth arm had lost its vibrancy for the last 30 years and at the party’s last biennial congress held in May of this year, he promised to rebuild the PYO with a strong 5000 membership. But given the turnout at these conferences, Jagdeo said the party’s youth member would grow to beyond 10,000 and this is proving to be a worry for the opposition parties.
“I’ve seen young people come to us with an energy I’ve never seen in my political life. Even in the days when we were fighting the APNU dictatorship, I don’t think we had that energy seen [today]. And they are of every race, gender and religion. And they’re coming to us because our party has been successful in ensuring that we fight off, every single day, the historical branding of our party…as being a party for one race of people. We’ve fought it off and people have seen that. They see it through our programmes for young people, through the opportunities that party gives to young people at the highest level, through our support for young people’s initiatives. They see that they have a future with this organisation and they’re coming in droves to the PPP, even unsolicited…”
“It’s very hurtful to these people [in the Opposition]… when they see the resurgence of the youth movement in the PPP. The drive behind these young people, the multi-ethnic nature of the gathering, it sends them into a nightmare… They can’t even bear the thought. It bothers them at night that this is what is happening, that there is a resurgence… and we haven’t even gone to some of the regions as yet,” the PPP General Secretary stated last week.
The PPP is expected to hold youth conference in Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) next.