Interviews and photos by Rae Wiltshire
With general and regional elections less than two months away and political campaigns picking up steam, this week we asked the man and woman in the street how they felt about the upcoming period. Their comments follow:
Butch Madramootoo – ‘I am excited to vote. I will vote and I am voting for a change. I really don’t know what else to say. I don’t care about creed, colour or race.’
John Madramootoo – ‘I don’t really follow politics up because people usually accuse you and call you one-sided. I have no problem with either party. I am going to vote but I will decide on May 11 because it is my democratic right. But whoever goes into power, we have to accept whatever they do, we can’t object.’
Michelle Russell – ‘This country must come right, everything must come right. I will be voting. I don’t see anything bad with the country. I think the government is doing right. I don’t have any problem with the Government. I don’t see any issues that need fixing.’
Mohan Lall – ‘The election should be peaceful. The opposition and the government will heckle but the people should remain peaceful. I plan on voting and I will vote for the PPP because since 1992 I have seen a lot of development. I would like to see more being done to stop crime and more people should come out to support the elections.’
Shondelle Gray – ‘I need a new change but to be honest, I don’t like either party. I don’t think any of the parties have good policies for young people. I’m looking for development in housing and factories. We import too much. We even import plantain chips from abroad. I would like to see the government bring back the National Service for school dropouts. The Chinese are getting duty-free concessions and what is it that the government will offer me? I don’t know. I am undecided. I want them to go on television and debate on issues because I am undecided.’
Nicole Cole – ‘I am extremely excited about the elections because I am optimistic that a change is going to come for women. For too long, we have not been getting justice. There were 22 rape cases in 2012-2013 and not a single conviction, such a situation cannot continue. With May 11 coming that will ensure that Guyana is secured. Elderly women have been raped. I want to see a change in the security situation. No woman is safe with the amount of crime in this land. I will certainly vote for a change to come in this beautiful land of Guyana.’
Sheba Higgin – ‘I am glad that the elections came early because I know it will get better as long as the current government comes out. They need to stop talking about this race issue; as if that is only what people care about. I just want to see people live in love and don’t fall for this race game that the government is playing.’
Orrell Lynch – ‘We as Guyanese have to understand that an election is to select the best leader of the country. We have to stop thinking about race and look at our future. Our country is very wealthy but that does not showcase because of the system that’s in place. I am very excited to vote because this country needs to be properly developed.’
Malkiad Singh – ‘I am excited that elections are here. I just hope that a lot of problems don’t come with it. Since I came to Guyana in 1992, I have seen changes with the PPP government. I feel that whichever party gets into power that better things are going to come.’