OPPOSITION Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo called out the Alliance for Change (AFC) over its refusal to name the 10 to 15 Local Authorities Areas (LAAs) that it will no longer be contesting in for the upcoming Local Government Elections.

It was on Wednesday that the AFC announced that it would only be contesting in 38 of the 80 LAAs – approximately 15 LAAs less than it had originally hoped for but said with over 600 candidates spread across the country, it is optimistic about the elections. AFC’s Campaign Manager and Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, however, declined to disclose the names of the LAAs it has opted out. But this did not sit well with Jagdeo, who is also the Leader and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

“It is unbelievable that someone would come to a press conference and say we are pulling out of a large number of areas, we can’t tell if they are constituencies or LAAs and we can’t tell you where we are pulling out from,” the opposition leader told reporters during his weekly press conference on Thursday at his Church Street office.

He questioned when the party took the decision to withdraw from the approximately 15 LAAs, noting that failure to withdraw within the specified period identified by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) could have negative implications when Local Government Elections are held on Monday November 12, 2018.

The AFC has accused the PPP of bullying its way through several Local Authority Areas to have candidates and nominators remove themselves from the AFC’s list. Other candidates, the AFC said, have suffered verbal abuse, threats and victimisation in PPP strongholds.
Notwithstanding challenges faced, the AFC said that they remain the “superior choice” contending that most of its candidates are below the age of 40.

Patterson said the AFC is opened to public debate within the various LAAs and constituencies ahead of the elections but Jagdeo believes that this is nothing but a sham.

“Imagine these people shut down debates in Parliament. In Parliament they shut down debates, they rushed through bills, they refuse to answer questions. We have a long list of questions in Parliament that they refuse to give answers to, and now he wants debate here but I think it is just another sham because they have nothing else going for them,” Jagdeo said.

Nonetheless, the opposition leader said the PPP/C is willing to participate in well-organised debates. “If they are good debates and properly organised we don’t have a problem with our people participating but we are not getting caught up with running after something the AFC sees as a distraction for their failure on the ground and their lack of support,” he said.
According to Jagdeo, the PPP has approximately 3000 candidates that will be contesting in the elections. AFC said the debate will allow the candidates from the various parties and civil groups to put forward solutions to the plethora of challenges facing LAAs across the country.