DISMISSING the A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) as an “Old-Boys Club”, young and prominent city businessman Clinton Urling urged South Ruimveldt residents to put blind support to the APNU+AFC behind them and vote solidly for the cup on May 11.Urling, responding to persons who criticised his decision for joining the ruling party, told a sizeable gathering Tuesday at Johnny P Square, South Ruimveldt that his choice was influenced by the fact that there is no viable alternative to the ruling party.

“The PPP is a party of the people, the PPP is a party for democracy, the PPP is a party of diversity, the PPP is a party of inclusion, the PPP is a party of freedom, the PPP is a party for youth, the PPP is a party that will secure the future of Guyana and all Guyanese,” the young businessman said, to resounding applause.
The diversity, he said is reflected on the party’s List of Candidates that was submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Nomination Day.
He said the party has made a deliberate decision to invest in youth and it sees youth as pilots for a brighter future for Guyana.
The APNU+AFC Alliance, he said, talks much about youth, but has only a few young leaders in its ranks, probably for window-dressing purposes as the decision-making is a privilege reserved for its seniors.
Contending that the PPP/C is a better choice, Urling said youths are not only part of the ruling party, but they are an integral part of its leadership.
Bharrat Jagdeo, he said, became President of Guyana at age 35 and was among the youngest heads of state in the world. Aside from Jagdeo, he said, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh; Head of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr Mahindra Sharma; Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali; Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud; and Education Minister Priya Manickchand are among scores of other young people who have chosen to support the ruling party, because they see a bright future for Guyana under the PPP/C.
NOT INTERESTED IN LIP SERVICE
The young business leader said he too saw the programmes, policies and vision of the PPP/C and made a decision to join the party, pointing out that young people are not interested in lip service, but are serious about the development of Guyana. They want jobs and opportunities, they want upward social and financially mobility, he said, pointing out that the PPP/C provides the avenues for them to realise their dreams.
Urling, taking a hard “dig” at the David Granger and Khemraj Ramjattan-led Alliance, said their party’s List of Candidates is scant on youth and was even scantier on women.
He told the South Ruimveldt gathering that the alliance’s list was so scanty on women that they were forced by GECOM to make a resubmission to meet the basic quota for women.
Some 20 women had to be squeezed in on the list after they were previously left out.
Again, he said, when compared to the PPP/C, it is a far cry from being genuinely and fully representative of the people.
He said being a fully representative party is only one of the hallmarks of the PPP/C, pointing out that a more salient feature remains the party’s track record in office, reaching out to people of all strata of society.
The young entrepreneur said the ruling party has stayed the course, and has developed a reputation of not only talking about development, but doing all within its power to make it happen.
And as a result, he pointed out, Guyana has been significantly transformed in the past 23 years with the PPP/C in office, enjoying nine years of uninterrupted growth.
CULTURE OF SERVICE
This, he stressed, was achieved through a culture of service to the people and the enactment of sound micro and macroeconomic policies.
As a party that will enable a secure future, he said the National Economic Council, chaired by former President Jagdeo, will take Guyana to the next level.
He said this will happen as the ruling party has created conditions for the economy to develop and prosper, adopting a people-centered approach, but making tough and realistic decisions.
The PPP/C, he told the gathering, is not a party that makes big, empty promises, but promises projects that it can make reality.
On this point, he said, the PPP/C can boast of its record in office, as it has always been a party that comprises youth, maturity and experience.
This, he said, is absent in the APNU+AFC alliance, noting that they have no leader with a track record of success in managing a company or Government entity.
But, he said, they will continue to make all sorts of promises, and should not be mistaken, as they have developed a reputation for making promises.
He said too that Guyana is not at a juncture where it should be accommodating to their policy of “noconomic,” a strategy of saying no to the economic development of the country.
Urling told the gathering that the APNU and AFC said no to the Amaila Falls project, no to the Airport Expansion project, no to the Anti-Money Laundering Bill, no to roads and bridges, and on May 11, they should say no to them by voting solidly for the PPP/C.
The rally was also addressed by veteran trade unionist Gillian Burton, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Head of the Presidential Secretariat Roger Luncheon.

By Tajeram Mohabir