New G/town candidates defend move to PPP; say unfazed by criticisms

Declaring that they are unfazed by being labelled ‘sellouts’ if they support a political party that seems intent on helping them develop their communities, several new Georgetown candidates of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) strongly defended their decisions to join the party.

Such declarations were made on Thursday at a PPP/C public meeting held at Well Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, ahead of the June 12 Local Government Elections.

Trichria Richards, a current APNU councillor who has now thrown her support behind the PPP/C, was the first to defend her decision to join the party.

“I come from APNU and I tired and I fed up.

“We tired and because we are tired, we are giving the PPP a chance,” she said to a roaring crowd.

She didn’t stop there, however. Richards continued explaining her decision to join the party and for her, it was largely because she believes the backing of the governing PPP/C will allow her to do more in her constituency.

With that conviction, she doesn’t mind any disparaging labels.

“We don’t mind being turncoats and sellouts if it means our communities are going to be developed,” Richards emphasised.

Georgetown, and more specifically south Georgetown, has been a stronghold of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party which is a major constituent in the current parliamentary opposition.

Another candidate, Malcolm Ferreira, who previously served as an independent city councillor in the Albouystown/Charlestown constituency, said candidates and supporters alike should be wary of “misplaced loyalty.”

Giving a personal account of his engagements with people in his community after his decision to join the PPP/C was made public, Ferreira said many Georgetown residents continue to place their faith in the APNU party even though many of their needs have been neglected over the decades the party has controlled Guyana’s capital.

He said that should not be. He also said people should have the freedom of supporting any political party without being belittled.

Patricia Chase- Green, the former Georgetown Mayor under APNU who has also joined the PPP/C, was among those urging Georgetown residents to support the party.

She reminded the gathering that she served APNu for many years and she knows how the party operates. According to her, internal politics has long stood in the way of that party meaningfully helping residents.

She also accused APNU city councillors of wasteful spending.

“Enough is enough, we cannot take it anymore,” Chase- Green said.

Meanwhile, PPP/C General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who joined the meeting, believes APNU’s support in Georgetown is not guaranteed at the upcoming Local Government polls.

He said the sizable crowd at the rally, populated with supporters donned in their red shirts and party regalia, is just one indication of the growing support for his party. In fact, Jagdeo said the party never attracted such a large crowd at its south Georgetown meetings before now.

So he, like the other speakers at the meeting, urged the Georgetown residents to finally give the PPP/C a chance to manage the city.

The PPP/C currently occupies the seat of government nationally but it has not been able to exercise a majority control over Georgetown before.

It is hoping to do so following the June 12 local polls.