The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) executive member and businessman, Shaz Ally, is running as a candidate for the upcoming local elections and is asking that citizens in Constituency One in Georgetown give smaller parties a chance to show what they can do.
Ally on nomination day handed in his TCI list, which includes another party member from Region Three’s Constituency Seven.
Speaking to the media on Monday just before handing in the party’s list, Ally was asked in his own capacity as a candidate why he chose to run in an election where the big parties – APNU and PPP/C – have dominated to which he replied that it was time for smaller parties to come up with new ideas of development.
“In general elections we are accustomed to the PPP, APNU and the AFC. Give the smaller party a chance in local government election. The bigger parties are already there in parliament and the government side. So, give the smaller parties and their candidates an opportunity to run”, he said.
The TCI made its appearance back in late 2019, as a party contesting the regional and general election.
Being a newcomer, with APNU+AFC and the PPP/C already the dominant presence, TCI’s participation was based on being a third option.
However, closer towards the election, TCI opened the door for a coalition to better their chances of getting a seat in parliament. That plan later failed and as such, TCI went into the election only to garner just 680 votes, well short of a seat.
On the other hand, there other small parties, the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), A New and United Guyana (ANUG), and The New Movement (TNM), got to share a seat in parliament on a joinder list.
Since the election period, the TCI remained relatively quiet because of COVID-19, and now they have emerged to contest the Local Government Elections slated for June 12.
This time around, Ally has come forward as one of the representatives who is saying that he wants a piece of the local government process, that is, at the level of the council, as a foot into the bigger political arena of parliament. “I always want to play a role in development of Guyana in general but local government election is a foot into it. I was a candidate in the last general election and it made me more want to get involved directly into it and get to be elected a as councillor of Georgetown,” Ally said.
His pitch remains the development of his community of Kingston and other areas in Constituency One that relate to the aesthetics of the environment.
However, his sights are not only set on the areas of his constituency as Ally says that he plans to be elected and sit on the city council to partner in the bigger development of the city since he is fed up with its current state.
“I have some plans as it relates to actual development for them [City Hall] because I don’t like what’s happening with the city council. So I plan to put it out there to the city council, if I do get to that position”, he stated.
The businessman said that he plans to pull votes from the major parties and work towards getting into City Hall to effect a full overhaul.
