Politics with good intentions can change lives – new Reg 6 MP

Newly-appointed to serve in the next Parliament, Zamal Hussain of Region Six, who will be a part of the 36 Parliamentarians from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to serve in the Parliament, will not be representing just Region Six but rather the entire country.

As the current supervisor for the party in Region Six, he says that as a politician, one should have the right intention, and in that way, one can help people across the country.
Hussain met with the media in Berbice to speak of his plans.
The 54-year-old Zamal will be making his first entry into the National Assembly when it is convened, serving as an MP in the country and, to a lesser extent, Region Six.
He told the media that apart from focusing on assisting residents of Region Six, his goal is to be able to widen his area of service and extend it to the entire country.
“In politics, as long as you have the right intention, then you can help several people across the country. And in Region Six, for the past several years, working as the Vice-Chairman of Region Six, I have reached out; a lot of persons reached out to me… Serving the people of Guyana is really a passion for me. I think people who know me would know me well. When there are issues, when there are problems, when there is concern, I personally like to tackle it head-on.”
In so doing, Hussain says he ensures that he gets the problems fixed. According to the politician, who was the Vice Chairman of the last Regional Democratic Council (RDC), one of the things he has learnt is that being a politician is not always about being a negative or controversial person.
“With the help of the Government, I have assisted numerous persons of different types, be it with the drains, be it with personal empowerment, be it with economic empowerment, be it with issues of assistance, and several other things. So if you are a politician, you can use those opportunities to help people, and by helping people, in return, they will support you, they will trust you, and at the end of the day, they will also vote for you, whichever party you support or whichever party helps you. So I think it is a two-way system in politics, where you can use it to help the residents and the people of Guyana and Berbice. So my focus is basically on this, about helping the people of Guyana,” Hussain said.
Expressing his appreciation for being selected to serve in the next Parliament, he referred to it as a privilege, while noting that his new role as a Parliamentarian is a new field but one which he intends to give 100 per cent of his ability.

Early years of politics
His journey to Parliament was a long one, being in politics for over 40 years. During his career, he also served as a religious leader.
“I was also, at one period, a religious leader. I was the Imam of the Vryheid Masjid for a period from 1993 to 1999. In fact, I have been the President of the masjid from then to now. So, in all the fields, I think I had a good stint. I was a businessman, religious leader, activist, party supervisor, and vice chairman. And that is why I said initially that using this work as a politician is just to help people. In return, you don’t expect financial or any kind of reward, but at the end of the day, the Almighty can bless you with this type of work that you help people with. Because, you know, when you go there and you see the plight of people, like if you go into a community and you see the depression there and the amount of things that people need, you know, sometimes you break down… and we helped them. So, that is a sense of, you know, humanity in terms of helping people.”
After leaving school, he worked at Berbice Mining Enterprise as an accounts clerk and, when it closed, took up a supervisory position in the private sector working in the logging industry. After working with the private sector for eight years, Hussain opened his own business in the logging industry in 1999.
He moved into politics in 2006 but had been a member of the PPP long before that, even working for the party at the 1992 elections.
“As I remember, I worked as a person in the tent, doing the checking of the voters and so on.
I was young at that time, and from then on, I was doing ordinary party member work, then coming into Parliament through a regional councillor. I think Minister Zulfikar Mustapha reached me and asked me to serve as a councillor, and I was privileged at that time. I was very thankful to Mustapha, who has actually worked with me in my entire career, to make sure I reached this position, whereby he always guided me in politics. And also the vice President and the President, who guided me to reach this position. And from 2006, as a counsellor, I served on many committees.”
Meanwhile, last year Hussain obtained his master’s in the field of accountancy.
The National Assembly in Guyana has 65 members elected using the system of proportional representation. 25 are elected from the 10 geographical regions, and 40 are awarded at the national level, with political parties being awarded seats based on the percentage of votes obtained.
Hussain was selected from the national list, of which the PPP won 23 seats.