…Jordan urges Guyanese to be wary of opposition

GUYANESE are exercising their index fingers in order to be ready to go out and cast their votes at the upcoming March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, which the incumbent coalition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), will be looking to win by a landslide.

Since being elected to office in May, 2015, the coalition government has been resilient against constant challenges and banter from the opposition, People’s Progressive Party (PPP), said Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, who noted that, despite the odds, the government is still firmly grounded.

“They have tried everything but we are still here, we still have resilience because we are not here for short sprints… notwithstanding what was thrown to us, we kept going… they could huff and puff but they cannot blow the coalition government away,” said Jordan in his assertive remarks to residents of Non Pariel at a community meeting, on Monday.
Minister Jordan said the PPP has been relentless in its efforts to point out the government’s flaws and bring down the administration, but those efforts have failed. “They thought when a certain someone voted with them last year, they knocked us out, but that wasn’t the case, we are still here and we are still resilient,” said the minister, noting that government will be elected to office again, come 2020.

Despite his confidence, the finance minister said rhetoric will not win the elections but rather a good voter turnout will ensure that the coalition returns to office.

Minister Jordan encouraged persons to vote when the time comes, he said: “we not gone win elections by staying home, we nah gone win by who could shout the hardest…don’t take this election for granted, we have to work on our supporters.”

Far too often political parties predict and announce their victory because of overconfidence and in order to avoid this, Minister Jordan encouraged supporters of the coalition to cast their votes and ensure that they stick around to be sure that their vote was counted.
“Too many times we drop the ball when we thought we had it in the bag… elections aren’t won until all these things are done and until the final results are declared…therefore, you must be diligent at every step of the process because the opposition will not be wished away,” said the minister, adding that the coalition needs more than a “knife edge” victory this time around.

In 2015, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had announced that the APNU+AFC secured 207,200 votes and the PPP got 202, 694 votes. The results reflected that APNU+AFC won by 4,506 votes.

GECOM explained that as a result of the votes, APNU+AFC would have 33 seats in the 11th Parliament, while the PPP will have 32.

“You see with results like 2015, the opposition just had to entice one person and it resulted in the government falling and even the nation falling…as such, we have to work hard and ensure that we secure a massive win,” said Minister Jordan.

BE WARY
As the coalition and its supporters move forward with victory in sight, Jordan said persons must be wary of the opposition and its falsities. His perception is that the PPP will “ratchet up” its behaviour as the elections draw closer.
“You know how wood ants are, they don’t invite you to see their business, but when you see him is too late,” said the minister, as he encouraged persons to pay close attention to the opposition’s actions.

The minister said he has confidence in the people of Guyana because: “Guyanese people don’t buy into their (opposition) falsity…with your effort they will stay there in the opposition.”

Guyanese have seen that the opposition cannot be pleased and are not interested in national unity and cohesion, so Jordan believes that the path is set for a coalition victory at the upcoming elections. He said Guyanese can look forward to “good times” under the coalition government.