Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo last evening made it clear that for his party the 2018 Local Government Elections are a dress rehearsal for the general elections, when it intends to take back government.
Jagdeo delivered a feature address at a People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) rally in Kitty last evening, during which he urged supporters to turn out in their numbers on November 12th because “what happens now is a sign of what will happen in 2020.”
“Though these are Local Government Elections…this is about more that City Hall…this is the beginning of the fight to take back our country… you are part of a movement to take back Guyana from the incompetent APNU+AFC,” he declared.
For more than an hour, the opposition leader declared to the modest crowd that the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) do not care for them. He said the Alliance for Changce (AFC), the other member of the governing coalition, is dead.
“Even if you vote for them, if you are not of the same class, if you are not part of the elite, then they do not care about you,” Jagdeo said.
He argued that President David Granger operated from the “stratosphere,” maintaining an aloofness which prevents him from interacting with residents in the manner he needs to as president.
The Former Head of State even went so far as to take credit for the recent agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union, which was brokered by Granger.
“You have to drag this man to policies. He’s so aloof from the real concerns of people… I had to practically bully Granger to meet with the teachers,” he stressed. Claiming that it took four press conferences and one face-to-face meeting to see results, Jagdeo said, “when I met with him at State House—I was meeting with him on a constitutional issue—I said you have to meet with the teachers. You say that education is important, yet you refuse to meet with the teachers and their demands are legitimate.”
He accused government of having spent a trillion dollars without realising any positive improvements in the job market, infrastructure, healthcare or education.
According to Jagdeo, the present government is spending $1.6 billion more per year for “dietary allowance,” $750 million more a year in domestic travel and $600 million more in rental of buildings
“Much is at stake,” a hoarse Jagdeo consistently repeatedly, while noting that large amounts are being spent on wastage and for government ministers to live “a good life.”
“Three years is enough,” he declared, while imploring voters to remove the APNU+AFC not just from City Hall but also from Central Government.
