As Nomination Day approaches for Local Government Elections, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is currently finalising its list of candidates, says General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo.
Jagdeo disclosed during a press conference held at Freedom House yesterday, that the party’s list is almost completed. He noted that with the exception of one Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), candidates for all other Local Authority Areas in which the party is contesting are finalised.
Jagdeo explained that he would have to meet with the prospective candidates.
“I have to go down on the ground and personally meet the guys. There are lots of candidates that want be on the list. So we have to narrow it down to a limited amount…” the General Secretary said.
He noted that the final list should be completed and approved by next Tuesday.
Turning his attention to some candidates announcing their candidacy ahead of the party’s approval, he said that his position has not changed from when he last spoke on the issue. At that time he had said that names have been agreed to in principle and are subject to the party’s approval.
“We would urge the candidates not to [make an announcement but] some people get very excited about it. And they want to jump the gun. Therefore, I urge all of them to wait for a submission of the list of candidates and then get into campaign [mode].”
Well-known gold dealer, Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed, who has been selected as the Eccles/Ramsburg PPP/C representative for the upcoming Local Government Elections was the first to disclose his intention to contest on the party’s slate. Mohamed first announced that he was contesting when he shared a post on social media announcing his candidacy for office.
The businessman asserted that he wants to contribute positively to the development of his community and that he has already been receiving support from residents in the community. He explained that he decided to go with the PPP/C since his chance of getting on the council is higher as they normally win some 90 per cent of the seats on the council, according to his calculations.
Mohamed said too that he has been in the community for the past 40 years and has been contributing to development. As such he believes that if he makes it to the council he can do even more. “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,” he stated as he pointed out that he is already aged and believes his energies can be used to significantly develop the community.
According to the PPP General Secretary, their list of candidates is diverse and captures persons from every aspect of the Guyanese society. He however explained that in the selection of candidates, they have informed persons who have busy schedules to not place their names on the list.
“We have a lot of business people who are supporting us, a lot of them don’t have time and we made it clear to them that if you don’t have the time to serve, don’t put your name down the list of candidates and then you wouldn’t show up to the meetings if you become a councillor,” Jagdeo emphasised.
He also informed that candidates were selected based on 14 criteria identified by the party. At a March 23 press conference, he disclosed that one prerequisite for being on the party’s 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 …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.
And according to Jagdeo, in their selection of candidates, there is a mixture of party members and persons from the Civic side. “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”, he added.
