WITH General and Regional Elections slated for May 11 this year, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is yet to decide on presidential and prime ministerial candidates to contest the highly anticipated elections, while chances are, a youth from the party could be selected as the prime ministerial candidate. This was according to Opposition Leader Brigadier, David Granger (rtd.) at his party’s weekly press conference yesterday, where he added that the likelihood of such disclosure will be made at least by February 20, the day his party will officially launch their election campaign.

According to the Opposition Leader, the selection process has not yet commenced, but would be done by a high-ranking APNU team, which will explore all options for the best suitable candidates.
Addressing the involvement of youths, Granger noted that the possibility of a youth being selected as the prime ministerial candidate is an option which is likely to be explored. “As far as the youth is concerned, this is actively being considered,” he said.
The party has also pursued the application of a formula which gives representation to geographical areas, gender, competence, occupation and age. “We have a range of considerations which would be applied in the selection of candidates,” the leader said, while adding that these criteria are not absolute.
Ryan Belgrave, Chairman of the Guyana Youth and Students Movement (GYSM), which is the youth arm of APNU, also added to the discussion, underscoring the importance of youth involvement in politics.
Belgrave was keen to note that quite often; the “dirty” side of politics is portrayed by the media which results in a lack of interest by young people. To combat this however, the young man appealed to the media to continue playing an active role in engaging the public, which is made up by a majority of young people.
He further urged the media that the need for social media to be used in public awareness and education is key, since youths are more occupied on social media than they were a few years ago, hence the need for these avenues to be explored.
Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change (AFC) at their recently held conference announced that the two forerunners for their party in the upcoming general elections will be Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo and Attorney at Law, Nigel Hughes.
However, with the possibility of a pre-elections coalition between APNU and the AFC, a reshuffling of these posts is likely.
As regards the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), current President, Donald Ramotar, was recently announced as the returning presidential candidate with a prime ministerial candidate still to be decided.