No dropping out this time around
Vishnu Bandhu
Vishnu Bandhu

– URP promises to go the distance this LGE

HAVING dropped out of the race at the last Local Government Election (LGE), the United Republican Party of Guyana (URP) has resolved that this time around, it will be going the distance.

Its leader, Vishnu Bandhu, told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday that the deciding factor was the realisation that “Guyana needs a real change.”

Now having made up their minds, Bandhu said the party has picked most of its candidates ahead of Nomination Day, and will be contesting constituencies in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
He explained that the reason the party dropped out of the 2015 elections was because the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had cheated the electoral process.

It’s a claim the then Deputy Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud, vehemently refuted, stating that the URP had no evidence to support its claims, but that nevertheless they had the opportunity to challenge the results of the election if they wanted to.

Now three years on, the URP is still on GECOM’s case, but now they’re saying that the same communication issues which have been dogging the entity over the years are now threatening to hinder the smooth hosting of the elections.

He said: “Today they gave us the list to check people’s names [but] all these things are supposed to have been given out a long time ago. So what you’re really doing is delaying the process so that people will not be able to reach their deadlines in contesting for the elections.”

SHORT NOTICE
“We would have liked to contest the whole country, but because of the short notice that we got, that is why we can’t contest the whole country…”

“I would not have known about it, if I didn’t visit GECOM today.”
Bandhu said he’d sent a letter some three months ago requesting a meeting with the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield and another with the Chairman, but neither party has bothered to respond.

He added that: “We are the leaders of political parties! Why is it that you are not responding to me? What’s all the delay? We only hear talk about the PPP and PNC, because they’re in parliament [but] we contest General Elections just like them!” On the issue of change in the way neighbourhoods and towns are being managed, Bandhu said:
“We are hoping that we’ll have more fair-minded people; honest people to run the various townships and communities. We are not only talking about drainage and irrigation, dams and roads and all these things, we are talking in general, such as to create businesses in different NDCs to develop the area; not only the normal thing they’re doing for 50 odd years. We want to make a difference in Guyana.”

And when it comes to the hot topics such as the parking meter contract, Bandhu says that the party is in favour, but modifications are needed.

And while he is against the high cost previously proposed for parking, he will be pushing for city parking spaces to be established to reduce traffic congestion and random roadside parking.

CUSTODIAL SENTENCING
Meanwhile, on the topic of the removal of custodial sentences for the possession of small amounts of marijuana, his position is that prison should be a last resort, with community service being considered as a viable option.

Like other parties, the URP also wishes to improve upon the management of City Hall, and Bandhu is positive that his party will find the right persons to do the job better.

“We would like to beautify City Hall, because that’s a historical building,” he said, adding:
“While in management, we must be able to employ people who are capable to do the kind of job that we have. URP will not look at friends or party members to do something; we will find the right sets of people to do the right job; we have to be more open-minded so that we can be able to serve the people truly in this country.”

Meanwhile, the URP anticipates a greater voter turnout from the youths, as through its weekly television programme, it continues to encourage them to be a part of the democratic process.

“We have been calling upon the young people to pay attention to these things, because in being involved in Local Government; NDCs and townships, young people will have an opportunity to learn how to govern, so that they can move up from here into the government and General Elections, because they know how to carry about themselves,” he advised.

With Election Day close to two months away, the URP has plans to organise a rally in Essequibo on October 6.

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