– URP reaches out to youth

THE United Republican Party (URP) is urging all citizens, especially the younger demographic, to vote for candidates who have policies that advance their interests instead of voting on the basis of race.

According to the URP’s leader, Dr. Vishnu Bandhu, the party will be contesting in 20 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and six of the townships in Guyana at the Local Government Elections (LGEs) slated for November 12.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, Dr. Bandhu said the URP has a vision for communities to be transformed economically.

For him, local government means developing and maintaining the communities’ infrastructure and handling taxes. But more than that, he said: “We want to go further than that, yes we will look after all that but we want to create industries in NDC areas and in township areas so that we can be able to create employment for our younger generation.”

In creating industries, URP candidates will be seeking to push local agriculture if elected, according to him. He explained that the aim is to establish concrete markets for produce locally and to create a massive network that can tap into foreign markets.

“We are also trying to lobby to bring down the cost of production in Guyana,” he said and opined that if this cost is not brought down, then it will continue to be difficult for Guyanese producers to compete internationally.

And teaching farmers techniques conducive to mass production is a key component of this vision also, Bandhu highlighted.

This vision of the URP can only come to fruition if the party manages to get the majority of seats in the NDCs.

“If we don’t get the majority of seats that we have, our plans that we have for economic development would not go through [but] even if we get one, two or three of the majority seats in the NDCs we are contesting in, we will show how an NDC is supposed to be run,” the party’s leader posited.

YOUTH
Even as the URP laid out major vision for economic development in communities, another key aim of the party is to have youth play a bigger role in the decision-making processes in Guyana.

Nikosa Bruce is a young person and local social media personality who joined the party recently. For him, youth need to play a more decisive role in society.

“I realise that if we want to get things done, we need to do away with the old politics of Guyana. Yes, we can have the older parties as points of guidance to learn from their shortcomings and what they did well so we know how to maneuver around the political playfield,” Bruce related.

According to him: “First and foremost, leaders must be answerable to the people.” He has been tapping into social media to educate youth and encourage them to vote; not necessarily for the URP, but for candidates who advance the community’s interest.

“What I’ve been trying to do, is reach them [youth] on their level. I do live videos on Facebook where I privy myself to be questioned [and] I try to explain to them that should I be elected, this is what I intend to do: Be accessible to you,” he shared.

He will be contesting in the municipality of Georgetown and highlighted that the feedback has been tremendous, not only in showing support but also in reaching out to ask questions about what are some of the plans he has and what he intends on doing.

Bandhu also noted that within the party, there is a mixed grouping of persons, but the majority of the candidates are younger people.

He related: “We realise that both [sets of] people have their part to play in society: the younger people are more attuned to technology, which carries today’s society, while the older people have experience. And if we can blend those two together, we will be a super group.”

Furthermore, he opined that the younger people who do not have experience will be able to gain experience by working with the older people.

Bruce said: “I want to appeal to my fellow youth, as I have been appealing to them, that this is the URP, this is a platform for us to speak, this is where we can come together and give our ideas and have our chance to speak, this is a chance to contest at these elections and put in places of power so that we can have some influence over our future.”

In campaigning for the URP, Bruce came across people who were dissuaded from voting because of what they believe is an entrenched system of race-based politics. According to him, this should not be.

He, however, highlighted that he is not saying that persons have to vote for the URP or that they have to join the URP. What he is postulating is that persons should think first and not vote based on race, but on policies and who best advances their interest.