“ON May 11th, it’s not just an ordinary election; these elections will determine if our country will continue on the growth path we have taken over the years.” 
This was the exhortation of none other than Head of State, President Donald Ramotar, who this past week paid a surprise visit to those in attendance at the Progressive Youth Organisation’s (PYO) Mash Camp at the party’s Robb Street Head Office, Freedom House, and gave a pre-election pep talk.

Songs, dances and other cultural performances were features of the evening, but as young Guyanese revelled in preparation for tomorrow’s Republic Day, Mashramani celebrations, Ramotar used the opportunity to remind his audience of the importance of the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

ANTI-DEVELOPMETAL

According to the President, it is important to pay attention to the developments over the past three years and pointed to the fact that the combined political Opposition continuously sought to frustrate Government’s development plans.

“Totally anti-developmental,” was the label the President assigned the combined Opposition and asked, “how else can we explain the fact that they have voted against a project like Amaila Falls (Hydro Electric) Project, that had the potential of creating thousands of well-paying jobs for our young people; how can they say they like young people and vote against a project of that nature.”
He surmised: “Clearly, we have been dealing with a people who are totally, absolutely anti-developmental.”
The President pointed too to the political Opposition’s stance on amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill and in its inherent adverse consequences.
“How can they want to protect our society from criminals and vote two times against the anti-money laundering Bill,” Ramotar inquired of the PYO members.
The amendments to pieces of legislation, according to the President, would have given the Government powers to not only jail drug lords when found guilty, but to also seize property and money, eliminating the scourge from society in the process.
“When they voted against that Bill, they indicated clearly where they stand as far as criminals are concerned,” said President Ramotar.
MAY 11 ELECTIONS
It was against this background that the President made his clarion call to the young party supporters and accentuated, “May 11th, it’s not just an ordinary Election.”
According to the President, “this election will determine if our country will continue on the growth path that we have taken over the years.”
Reflecting on the 2011 General and Regional Elections, the President reminded the youngsters that the incumbent People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had warned that the two political Opposition parties, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) were “two sides of the same coin.”
The recent coalition announcement, according to the President, has only confirmed what was known all along and used as example the voting patterns of the combined Opposition in the National Assembly.
ANTI-YOUNG PEOPLE
In his appeal to the young voters gathered to assist the PYO prepare for the Mashramani celebrations, President Ramotar used the opportunity to remind them of the prevailing political environment.
Speaking to the actions of the combined Opposition, the President spoke to the fact that the AFC/APNU duo in the House used its one-seat majority to slash funding for a number of development programmes and services.
“They cut the budget with which we give loans to students attending the University of Guyana…How can they speak seriously about education and developing our young people and cut the budget.”
These students that depend on the loans provided for by Government are those in need of it since they would not be able to afford a university education otherwise, according to the President.
“And when we put it back,” he said in reference to the restoration of the slashed budgetary allocations, “that is when they went to the no-confidence motion.”
According to the President, “clearly we are dealing with a people who are not only anti-developmental but anti-young people.”
Mr. Ramotar reported to the PYO members that he is at a loss to explain the rationale of the combined Opposition in slashing the funding in the first place.
INDIVIDUALLY/COLLECTIVELY
Captivating the scores gathered for the event, the President stressed that the most important factor for the development of the country is its people.
“The quality of people that we have is what is going to push us forward and we know that by providing sound education for them, we are creating the quality that is going to take us forward,’ the President declared.
This, he said, has been demonstrated over the past nine years where, despite a financial crisis that gripped the world, “Guyana’s economy was one of the few that kept growing consistently because our education standard is growing and it is helping us with our production and our productivity.”
Addressing the young supporters at the PYO event, the President proclaimed, “The future belongs to you; we will have to work together.”
In concluding his remarks to the scores of PYO members gathered and pleasantly surprised with a pre-election ‘pep talk’, the President said: “On May 11, let us be clear…I am looking forward to your support individually and collectively, so that we can take our country forward.”

By Gary Eleazar

I am looking forward to your support individually and collectively, so that we can take our country forward – President Ramotar