Dear Editor,
I HAVE been involved in every election since our country became independent and even before Independence.
Since Independence, our country has been served by nine Presidents, and President Irfaan Ali is the tenth.

I have enjoyed the privilege of working closely with six of our ten Presidents, including, now, President Ali, and while I opposed three of them, two because of the ideology they embraced and one because of his policies, I respect them all for their individual dedication and commitment to the development of our country.

Reason suggests to me that this will be the last election in which I am involved but, it is by far, in my experience, the most critical of them all, and why do I say that.
I say it because the opportunities for our next government to take our country to a level of prosperity equal and beyond any other country of its size is immense and, yet, the threat to this realisation is stark and dangerous, if, in this election, we make the wrong choice.

First and prominent of these threats is the determination of the Maduro regime to take the Essequibo. It remains an ever-present danger. It is only because the PPP/C government, through the skill of its diplomacy and personal dynamism of President Ali, has been able to rally to its cause and defense the International Community, that our country has not already been invaded.

As we go to the polls, let us remind ourselves that, in spite of the fact that the United Nations Secretary-General decided in January 2018 that Venezuela’s claim to the Essequibo be resolved by the International Court of Justice, the Maduro regime has created a map of Venezuela incorporating Essequibo as part of its territory, and has held fake elections in Venezuela electing a Governor, eight Deputies and Regional Councilors to govern the Essequibo.

The Maduro regime continues to push the envelope. In March this year, for instance, they sent a naval vessel into Guyana’s exclusive economic zone, directly threatening Exxon’s investments operating lawfully in Guyana’s waters.

Which brings us to the danger from within our country. We are faced with a choice of three parties which matter, the others being of nuisance value, the PPP/C, APNU (really the PNC) and WIN.

APNU offers the choice of a party which attempted to rig the last election, and whose acolytes remain before the courts so charged. A party which, if elected, offers no guarantees that they would not do the same again in office in order to ensure that they remain permanently in government.

WIN, led by Azruddin Mohamed, offers the choice of a party led by a person sanctioned by the US government accused of gross criminal activity and who is before our own courts charged for further criminal activity. The consequences of electing such a party to govern our country should be plain to see and really needs no elaboration.

The PPP/C, in contrast, offers a choice of a party which, while not having a perfect record in government, which political party ever does, has demonstrated the capacity and capability of sound

financial government, respect for democracy, the holding of free and fair elections and guarding our country’s territorial integrity.
Seems to me that any intelligent voter, given these choices, should have no difficulty at all in making the right choice.
Yours sincerely,
Kit Nascimento