First round of presidential debates set for Thursday

POLITICAL parties only contesting some of the administrative regions in the coming General and Regional Elections are expected to take part in presidential debates at the University of Guyana (UG) on Thursday.

The debate is being facilitated by Move On Guyana Inc. and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) and will take place at the campus’ Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) at 18:00hrs.

All parties which meet the criteria were invited and those which responded include: A New United Guyana (ANUG); Change Guyana (CG); The Citizenship Initiative (TCI); The New Movement (TNM); United Republican Party (URP) and the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP).
Their presidential candidates in respective order are: Attorney-at-law, Ralph Ramkarran; Businessman, Robert Badal; Teacher, Rondha Ann-Lam; Medical Practitioner, Dr. Asha Kissoon; Businessman, Dr. Vishnu Bandhu and former Toshao, Lennox Shuman.

The event will feature several rounds and the candidates will be questioned on matters relating to education, health, agriculture, natural resources, justice reforms, unemployment, underemployment, job creation, youth development and more.

A release from the university stated that several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), youth groups and media houses have been specially invited and entry is only permitted by invite only, due to the venue’s capacity. However, the event will be streamed live on social media and television. A second debate is planned involving parties contesting all ten administrative regions in the 2020 general and regional elections.

These parties are the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) led by President David Granger, and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) represented by Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali. Young Guyanese have been calling on political parties to agree to a public Presidential Candidates’ Debate before the March 2 General and Regional Elections, so that they can make informed decisions when casting their ballots. An online petition, ‘GY Presidential Debate 2020’ has already received over 2,000 signatures. The university stated that more details will be released when the parties that fit the criterion respond to the invite.

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