Is GECOM abdicating its responsibility to the Guyanese people to educate every single one of us about our individual civic responsibility to elect the government we believe will enrich our lives? It is never too early to begin the voter education process. To date we have been fed information on how to cast our votes, where the registration sites are located, and how to initiate corrections to the information (names, addresses, etc.) appearing on the Preliminary Voters List.
Whose responsibility it is to provide voters with information that should appeal to their sense of belonging? Where is the Public Relations programme that must of necessity tell or remind citizens of their own individual responsibility to elect the group of people who they believe is better prepared, more willing and disposed towards creating the platforms for growth and development of our youth, our women, our differently abled, our industries, for population growth, first world education and security systems?
Our people recognize these to be among the most vital steps to a more secure future, but they must be reminded that much of the responsibility lies in their own hands. They must understand that their one vote does indeed count and can make the difference they seek.
Complete and comprehensive Voter Education is pivotal to the success of any truly democratic election. Let it be known that a 63% or 71% voter turn-out could not be a reflection of failure of political parties. Rather, it is more likely an indication of a serious lapse in the election commission’s education programmes that resulted in voter apathy or ignorance of their power to elect the team of their choice.
The AFC’s interactions with the electorate in the decade that the party has been in existence, has always brought into stark relief the reality that too many Guyanese in places as near as West Berbice and as far away as Paramakatoi (Region 8) do not realize that the power to choose their government lies entirely in their own hands. Sufficient information does not reach them in the friendliest formats that expose them to this knowledge. Add to this the reality that there is a palpable sense of disconnection felt by the people living in far-flung areas, especially the Deep South and the towns bordering neighbouring countries.
They feel like they do not belong to Guyana because their own reality is a better economic, familial and social relationship with their neighbours across the Brazilian, Surinamese and Venezuelan borders.
Many see themselves as natives of these countries because they receive information from those sources. They speak the respective languages and carry out their trading across the rivers.
The incumbent government has for years been spouting platitudes about the programmes they had or intended to put in place to connect the ‘far-flung regions’ to the centre of government.
The AFC’s concern is that these communities, these people who are unquestionably Guyanese, have been cut off from their nationality. The term ‘far-flung’ for the AFC is nothing but geography. The disconnect that our people in all three counties and the Hinterland suffer from is an anomaly that is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.
We, i.e. the Coalition of AFC and APNU, have designed a focused programme aimed at reintegrating the people in the border towns, in all of the hinterland regions, in Linden, Orealla and other communities that have been virtually cut off from the life in Guyana. In reality, these are the people whose cultures and mores provide the uniqueness that is Guyana.
Our message of Change for lasting Growth will be heard by every Guyanese, every single citizen from Mabaruma in the North to Konashen in the South. Likewise, we implore the Elections Commission to stretch the apparent boundaries of their elections education campaign and ensure that the many disenfranchised citizens are given the requisite information about their voter statuses and their responsibilities to their community and future generations to exercise the franchise created for them by their fore fathers and mothers who shed blood and gave up lives for the right to vote.
Guyana belongs to ALL Guyanese! It is up to us to seize the reins again and steer this nation in the direction where it should be headed. Take up your responsibility to shape this nation. VOTE!
