No leader worth his salt would avoid engaging his electorate – Granger
May 9, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source
It is official that the electorate will not benefit from the opportunity of seeing the presidential hopefuls go head to head in debates over critical issues facing the nation.
APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate, David Granger
Yesterday, Presidential Candidate for the A Partnership for National Unity plus Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) David Granger placed the fault of this not being realized, squarely at the feet of the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), Donald Ramotar.
But in the absence of the debates, Granger sought to show good reason why he is “the man for Guyana, the one that should really be given the next chance in office to turn the country around.”
Granger said that what makes him a better candidate than Ramotar is his willingness to face the nation and participate in debates. He explained that he was at the University of Guyana where the students there invited the presidential candidates to a debate, but his counterpart never turned up.
Ramotar was also a no-show at a similar engagement which was to be held at the Theatre Guild.
The politician then emphasized that any leader worth his salt would exhibit a willingness to engage with his constituents and “I religiously practice that.”
The Opposition leader then pointed to several problems facing the nation and his vision for effectively dealing with them.
“Generally, when you examine the problems confronting Guyana, I think I am best suited and I have an experienced and qualified team to deal with those problems.”
“I have been in all ten regions and the Diaspora and security is the major issue. People from the Diaspora don’t want to come back home because they feel so unsafe and with what I am capable of doing, I am the better choice to be President to assure that there is safety in our homeland,” said the APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate.
PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar
He said too that Guyana has a “broken education system” which needs urgent attention. Granger asserted that the matter of the nation’s development cannot be properly addressed without taking a practical approach to dealing with the hundreds of students failing the National Grade Six Assessments every year.
“There are problems in the education system and they are not being rectified. This administration is bent on glorifying the 170 top students but no one pays attention to the 17, 000 who don’t do well… Guyana is behind and we need to solve that,” he added.
The Opposition leader cited another huge problem he believes the PPP/C has been unable to rectify — the lack of jobs for young people. As he lashed out at the current administration for failing to develop a National Youth Policy, Granger boasted that his coalition has a most pragmatic solution and plan for this issue and will implement it once given a chance to take the country forward.
