‘Debate what? Debate what happened 28 years ago? What Burnham did? What Janet did? We know how people vote and we are going to go that way all the time until something major happens. It took the people of Egypt 30 years before they wake up’
CN Sharma has made no official announcement but he intends to contest the upcoming elections, and he is not interested in joining a broad opposition coalition and or participating in any presidential debates if invitations are extended.
Labelling presidential debates “the biggest joke” in the country, Sharma said he sees no point in them because Guyanese vote race. Debates sound good, he said, but he firmly believes that they cannot sway voters and or change anything leading up to the polls.
For him, people have made up their minds and while he is hoping many have considered him, he frankly stated that the presidency might be out of his reach. Still, he is interested in running to secure parliamentary seats and bring about the “change which people need.”
Sharma told Stabroek News recently that his presidential bids have been plagued by voting miscounts, exclusion from polling stations and unfounded allegations, but he will lead his Justice for All Party (JFAP) with his prime ministerial candidate, Geoffrey Sankies, on a platform of change this year.
He emphasised his focus is on the ordinary man, “the poor people who are struggling in the country.” Sharma is mindful of his fragile health and legal troubles, saying his campaigning would be restricted to his television station.
For him, campaigning is not only about reaching out to people in an election year. Sharma said he has walked the “length and breadth of this country,” reaching out to citizens and offering assistance after the polls closed and over the years. “If anyone can name one leader who went out [there] and reach out to people it would be me, but due to my health I cannot campaign as normal. I will have to do it on TV… that is if they don’t close me down before, which is what I am hearing through the grapevine,” Sharma said.
His party had previously contested elections in 1997, 2001 and in 2006, but he failed to draw any significant support at any of those polls. Sharma believes the JFAP did pull in massive support at previous elections but was denied a seat in parliament. He recalled the 2006 polls, saying his party rightfully won a parliamentary seat, but lost out after the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) pointed to an error in the tallying of the votes.
“I would go into communities and have people tell me, ‘Mr. Sharma we vote fuh you’ and still the record would show that I ain’t get one vote in that area and I get vote in area where I ain’t even got support…,” Sharma said. He called on the GECOM to ensure the integrity of the 2011 polls and to guard against rigging.
He contended that election officials removed him from a polling station during the 2006 polls and denied him entry for two hours. He said too that his people were also barred from entering polling stations. “This was enough to cancel the whole elections,” he charged.
He also questioned how the party was able to secure two regional seats at the last elections but failed to have any impact nationally. According to him, the people who supported him in those areas also supported him at the national elections but the system chose not to reflect this.
Campaign focus
Lowering the Valued Added Tax (VAT) to a reasonable rate and upgrading the salary scale of teachers, nurses, doctors, magistrates and members of the disciplined services are high on Sharma’s campaign agenda. He said that lowering the cost of living is also important, in addition to supplying people with affordable electricity. Tackling corruption is also high on his agenda, since, according to him, it is a major problem in the country. “Corruption was known during the Burnham regime but this one beat all,” he charged.
The country’s education system needs upgrading and there is a need for better trained graduates to be produced from the University of Guyana, Sharma noted. He said too that housing is another area that his party would pay serious attention to, and he promised that “every Guyanese without a home would get a house lot.” He charged that house lots are being distributed to people who already have homes while those who need are still waiting for a call from the ministry.
Amerindian land rights ought to be respected, he said, noting that he would ensure the Amerindians have access to the land which belongs to them. Further, he said that persons who are eligible based on their applications would be granted firearm licences.
Small parties
Sharma said his party is small and is contesting with “other giants,” but he argued that no other presidential candidate named so far has more experience with elections and reaching out to voters than he does. He contended that many of the media houses have ignored small parties this year and are focusing on the bigger parties and their presidential candidates. “It’s like we don’t exist,” he said of the smaller parties.
With respect to the opposition parties, Sharma said the broad coalition is a “good idea,” but he has no interest in joining them ahead of the polls. Over the next few months, he intends to focus on his own campaign and on reaching out to the people.
And on the issue of presidential debates, he said there appears to be an attempt to “copy from other countries” and he insisted that there is no point to debates. “Debate what? Debate what happened 28 years ago? What Burnham did? What Janet did?” Sharma asked. “We know how people vote and we are going to go that way all the time until something major happens…it took the people of Egypt 30 years before they wake up,” he added.
Further, he called on the Guyanese public to vote at the next elections, stressing that “every vote counts.” He said too that people need to uplift their identification cards, while expressing hope that those who are still to get their source documents would be able to register to vote.
