Attorney-at-Law and politician, James Bond has been nominated for the position of Vice-Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform and he believes that the time has come for the membership of the party and even the population to give younger persons the opportunity to serve in the hierarchy of political parties.
“It’s the membership who are repose with the power to reject, and I think this goes across … I think we in the populace, the ordinary working class Guyanese are empowered with our ballots, with our vote, with our voices to say look, the person you are putting there we are not approving of it, we want to see more young leaders coming through , we are not going to support you unless you promote young leaders,” Bond said.
The attorney called for a change in mindset of older persons who have labeled youths negatively, often times describing them as lazy or inexperienced, not fully realizing that in a few more years these same individuals would be responsible for crafting policies.
He criticized all political parties for not giving youths the well deserved push needed for them to prove their capabilities when given the opportunity to serve, however he acknowledged that the guidance of elders is necessary during this journey.
Bond acknowledged that a major concern is youth unemployment and in this regard, once he is elected at the upcoming congress, he intends to use his power to partner with more private sector entities to create jobs for the Guyanese youth.
He noted that “we need to partner with these individuals to create some form of avenue where more young people could come off the streets and into the work place , this is an initiative that will not go over night but in terms of building a relationship it needs to start and start quickly …Guyana needs to understand, we need to pull together …the old politics of us against them and them against us and we and them and I. I think those words and phrases we need to get out of our vocabulary and as vice chair I would push greater for that.”
Bond is contesting with persons such as Joseph Harmon and Winston Felix for the Vice Chairmanship, however he made it clear that he is not in competition since this causes persons to lose sight of the greater purpose.
“I am simply offering up my candidacy for service to the party, I think in politics we become too combative, we become too adversarial and I must say we lose sight of the message, when we focus too much on the personalities we lose sight of the issues, I think Guyanese politics has become very acrimonious… and I want that culture to change,” he posited.
And there is a plan B, Bond, who is an executive member of the PNC/R said he will commit himself , along with other young people in the party to take politics by storm with its Vision 20/20 plan which strives to bring a new era of politics to Guyana focusing on youth.
He called for patience by the youths, who may be feeling frustrated that the change they voted for has not yet materialized, urging for a renewed vigor with them being more vocal on social issues and highlighting the changes they need.
