Well-known gold dealer, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, has been selected as the Eccles/Ramsburg PPP/C representative for the upcoming Local Government Elections, while prominent businessman, Harry Mattai, is being floated to represent the Bel Air Gardens/North West Campbellville constituency.
PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told a press conference that the members of the Eccles/Ramsburg cluster had selected Mohamed and they have since submitted his name to the party.
Jagdeo said that Mattai’s name has been floated for his constituency but stated that the party will formally announce all of its candidates next month.
Mohamed first announced that he was contesting when he shared a poster announcing his candidacy for office on social media. Speaking last night with Stabroek News, Mohamed said he hopes to contribute positively in the development of his community. He noted that he has already been receiving support from residents in the community.
He stated that he decided to go with the PPP/C since his chance of getting on the council is higher as they normally win, according to his calculations, 90 per cent of the seats on the council.
Mohamed said too that he has been in the community for the past 40 years and has been contributing to development. He believes if he makes it to the council he can advance his contributions.
“I don’t want to go into the main political realm. Even at this stage, if the chairmanship is offered to me I would accept it. I just want to play more of an advisory role,” Mohamed stated as he pointed out that he is already aged and believes his energies can be used to significantly develop the community.
Mohamed explained that since his announcement he has been receiving calls from numerous persons within his community pledging their support for him.
“We in principle agreed over the constituency candidates, but that still has to receive the final approval at the party level,” Jagdeo said.
When asked if he could confirm Mattai’s name on the PPP/C list, Jagdeo responded in the negative saying “I don’t want to comment on people’s names at this point in time.”
It was at this point, he stated that subsequent to his party submission of names on Nominations Day, which is set for April 17, they will launch their campaign and reveal their candidates.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo added that a prerequisite for being on the party’ slate was that those who win could not bid for contracts in their respective districts.
“And one of the criteria is that they will not be able to tender for contracts in their Neighbourhood Democratic Council in which they are [contesting]… for the first time now, we are prohibiting that from happening because we have had instances in the past where we have instances where councillors were tendering for contracts in their own [constituency],” the General Secretary disclosed.
He stated that all 80 clusters of the party were given a list with criteria that the party wished to see in prospective candidates. Among the criteria is that candidates must agree to be faithful to the community’s manifesto.
According to Jagdeo, in their selection of candidates, there is a mixture of party members and persons from the civic side.
He stated “that has always been the model. There are people who don’t have party cards but they want to contribute to the community. They want to make a difference.
