Former President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told PPP/C supporters that should members be elected to office at the upcoming local government elections (LGE), the way of interfacing with persons must be less arrogant and more sensitive.
“There is no place for arrogance. When we win these local government elections our councillors will have to act differently. They can’t chase people who go to their offices to complain,” Jagdeo said.
He was at the time speaking at the annual memorial service of the People’s Progressive Party’s founder-leader and late President, Cheddi Jagan at Babu John, Port Mourant, Corentyne.
“If they don’t have money to do something they have to hold the shoulders of their comrades and say ‘We can’t do this because we don’t have money’. We have to have a different way of working on the ground and in the paper,” Jagdeo said, as he struggled to speak because of laryngitis.
He later informed that his larynx was inflamed because he had been across the country speaking at some 35 LGE meetings in only three days.
The Opposition Leader told attendees, that while the event focuses on the life and achievements of the party’s founder leader, he would also use it to reflect on the loss at last year’s General Elections and explain how they could lay the foundation for the 2020 elections.
The loss, he posited was for a myriad of reasons including that the party’s structure failed it. “Last time we came here was in the pre -election period now it’s different circumstances for the PPP. The last time we were here we were in government at that time this year. Now, we are in opposition and it is incumbent upon us to talk a little about that –why we are in opposition today and how we will work to retake this country so that the PPP can lead it once again,” he said.
“Much have been said about why we are in opposition…we have gone across the country and have done a post mortem on the elections. We have isolated all the reasons why we are in opposition. We spoke, we are looking good on paper but looking bad on structure, not because of support …because we got over 200,000 votes at the last election but … our structures got a bit weak,” he asserted.
Although he said that he strongly believes that his party will win a majority of the municipalities in the March 18th LGE, Jagdeo pleaded with supporters to go out to vote on E-Day. He said too that older voters should assist in “ground work” and edification and moulding of younger voters so that the party can see maximum voter turnout for it. “It is absolutely important that we control the majority of NDCs and municipalities across Guyana. If we do so we can partly insulate these communities from the discriminatory acts of this government from their taxation policies which were designed to hurt poor people,” he stated.
“Go and help in the field because it is only field work that can bring our people at this point and time…assist the comrades who are walking house to house. Help them, work with them. People will come back to us…every village we will walk house to house and reconnect with our base but we need our older comrades to come back and help and to be mentors to be another generation of leaders into this party…We have to become our brother’s keepers we have to stop the sniping …we cannot undermine each other”, he added.
