Chairman of the political party Change Guyana, Nigel Hinds, did not present himself as a candidate for the elections on Nominations Day last Friday; on Sunday he officially announced that he is not in the running for his party as the Prime Ministerial Candidate.
He gave two reasons for bowing out of the race. One, he is a U.S. citizen and thus barred from running, and two, he requires health care that he doesn’t believe he should seek in Guyana.
Hinds said in November during a routine medical checkup, he found out he had Diabetes and his kidneys were only functioning to a 50% capacity. He has further checkups scheduled for this week.
“The truth is, Guyana’s health system is in a decrepit and really represents the worst health system in the English-speaking Caribbean,” he told the News Room.
And so, he doesn’t want to “risk doing the kinds of interventions that might be needed and getting the right medication” here in Guyana.
He stated: “It is unrealistic to compare the medical facilities and treatment available in the United States with what obtains in any Caribbean country and more so Guyana.”
He referred to the fact that President David Granger has had to travel to Cuba for treatment for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma –a type of cancer –which he was diagnosed with, in 2018.
Hinds did not sign a declaration form to be a Candidate on the list for Change Guyana. In fact, he said the announcement of his decision was a long time coming.
The accountant said he had initially decided to relinquish his US citizenship up to December but “a point came where the determination was when you saw what it entails, and what would be the ramifications where you lose your US visa entirely…” had to be considered.
Hinds said he will still be on the campaign trail for his party.
The party is now seeking another Prime Ministerial Candidate from its list submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
While the list identifies a Presidential Candidate who needs to sign two declaration forms, it does not identify a Prime Ministerial Candidate.
In fact, Hinds argued that this has just been traditional since it was done by the PPP/C in the 1992 elections campaign.
