Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 28, 2016 News
– US Charge d’ Affaires
“The question isn’t if GECOM is ready. It’s whether people will turn out. Are we going to have an elections in which the majority of Guyanese go out and cast their vote for Local Government or are we going to have councils that are elected with 10, 12, 15 percent turnouts?”
By Jarryl Bryan
With worry rising that Guyanese are taking the forthcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) for granted,
a collection of Youth Organizations banded together to launch an aggressive drive, with support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), at Herdmanston Lodge on Friday last.
Addressing the gathering, United States Charge d’ Affaires, Bryan Hunt, expressed some satisfaction in the process now in motion. He, however, expressed dismay at the fact that the majority of Guyana’s population, who had once clamoured for Local Government Elections, now seems to have fallen silent when it is within their grasp.
“We had protests; we had people who were determined to stand outside the Office of the President every day,” he recalled. “And then we had prorogation and we had national elections… and then in the aftermath of national elections was the announcement that we were going to have Local Government Elections. And everyone got excited again. And the date was set for March. And the enthusiasm seems to have evaporated.”
“The question isn’t if GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) is ready. It’s whether people will turn out,” the diplomat continued. “Are we going to have an elections in which the majority of Guyanese go out and cast their vote for Local Government or are we going to have councils that are elected with 10, 12, 15 percent turnouts?”
He noted that should that happen, the councillors would be in trouble, as the legitimacy of their authority would come into question. He stated that when the time comes for the councillors to make tough decisions, they must do so with the understanding that their policies are supported by their constituencies.
“They need to have that legitimacy,” he stressed. “People (who) go to sit on those councils need to say my
friends, my family, my community supported me in overwhelming numbers, and therefore I am able to take difficult decisions as to what becomes a priority.”
“We have to convince Guyanese to go to the polls on Election Day,” he added, though he acknowledged that getting people to vote in an LGE anywhere is always a challenge, much less in a country deprived of local elections for two decades. Hunt also stressed that the candidates themselves have to do their share in getting voters to come out.
A NEW AGE
Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG) Executive Director, Dmitri Nicholson, also addressed the gathering. He noted that a new age had come in politics, where inclusionary measures are employed in promoting national unity and a unified agenda.
“The collaboration will bring a new dawn in how we do (business) in Guyana,” Nicholson said. “The GNYC (Guyana National Youth Council), NCC (National Coordinating Coalition) and YCG are better together than apart. Therefore this collaboration will ensure that we do not see the kind of division that we see at our national level.”
“To realize our goals, we have to come together as a people. We will not seek to be divisive and call out people in a negative way. But in this Local Government Elections we will build relationships in positive ways.”
He noted that efforts would be made to partner with other like-minded individuals in Bartica, Waini region, but sought to stress that his organization does not diminish the work of those who may have
started along the same path.
Nicholson also urged candidates to be more attentive to public matters and their constituencies’ concerns. He referenced a case of a Georgetown candidate who was approached about his plans should he gain public office.
His response was to state that it would be better to cross that bridge when they got there. In light of this exchange, Nicholson stressed that votes will not be garnered by filial affections or the fact that one knows the other as a friend.
“They will have many things to ask,” Nicholson said. “I want you to know that we are empowering people to be better voters. They won’t vote because you live next door to me, they will like you because you can get the job done.”
INITIATIVES
The groups who will be collaborating – GNYC, NCC and YCG – launched their official voter and civic education campaign. They will be embarking on activities that will generate interest, including jingles, public service announcements, and a heavy reliance on social media and well-known hashtags. There will also be a promotion whereby citizens who can show by their inked finger that they voted, will win prizes and incentives. There are also plans for drama and entertainment activities, in places like the malls, parks, markets and other public places.
One of their initiatives, an ‘Off da fence’ programme whereby youth party members stopped passersby in Georgetown and quizzed them about LGE, highlighted a worrying problem. One 20-year-old participant, while being questioned, revealed that he does not look at television, nor does he go on the internet, except for Facebook, and he does not listen to the radio or read the newspaper.
There is a general consensus that there are many more like this. So the campaign will be looking to set up information hubs in communities all over the country and sending out LGE ‘champions’ into communities, in the run-up to the March 18 elections.
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