Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill – who is returning as a candidate for the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) ahead of the September 1 elections – on Tuesday hosted a public meeting at Retrieve, Mackenzie, Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Region Ten has traditionally been considered a stronghold of the Peoples National Congress/ A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
But according to Edghill “the fact that we can come here this afternoon and hold a public meeting and to see all of you here in Retrieve is a testimony that there is a change in Linden.”
“There is definitely a rejection of the narrative Lindeners were fed about going red,” he noted.
Edghill emphasised that the politics of the PPP “is not about the colour of your jersey or the colour of your flag”.
“We respect you; we respect every voter and that is why we go to every corner, every street, every alleyway and we canvas for your vote because we know you have a choice,” he explained.
Edghill urged residents to be wary about politicians who do not respect citizens’ right to choose. He referred to the attempts by members of the APNU+AFC to derail the results of the 2020 elections.
He explained that it is not just about trying to steal the elections, highlighting that when politicians want to stay in office through rigging, they do not have to fulfill any promises to the people.
“…because if you are gonna win an election on merit, you have to deliver to people,” he pointed out, noting that if democracy is not upheld, “people begin to suffer”.
Edghill reminded that during the 2020 polls, the APNU and AFC political leaders of the region lied to their supporters by claiming that they had won the elections but yet refused to released their ‘winning Statements of Polls’.
He further recalled that it was the PPP/C that released the SOPs on a website, allowing all to see the official tabulation of the votes.
According to Edghill, the PPP/C upholds democratic principles and is committed to delivering on the promises it makes to the electorate.
In fact, he highlighted that the PPP/C not only delivered on all of its promises made during the 2020 electoral campaigning season, but it has done more for citizens.
For instance, he revealed that last year, 505 persons within the region who never before had a government contract started working on the construction of roads; this year, as a result of “proper policy direction”, this list was expanded to 750 and counting.
“The reason why we were able to do more than we promised is because the philosophy of our party is that ‘you respect people, you keep your word with people and you deliver to people’,” Edghill said.
In this regard, he emphasised that September 1 is not a “beauty pageant” but about the future of Guyana. He cautioned about putting into government persons who have no vision for the country or who do not have management skills.
“It is not just show off with a highway here and highway there, policy direction has taken us to every region…so all across Guyana, people got money in their pockets, they have opportunity and they have hope for a better Guyana,” Edghill emphasised.
And according to him, a government that is delivering with such “magnitude” and “swiftness” should remain in office to continue to deliver to the people.
In fact, Edghill expressed that persons, particularly those in the region who supported the APNU and AFC, have come to realise that they had put their trust in “a group of people who betrayed you; and a president and a party who you didn’t vote for in Linden has done more for you than the government that you vote for, then you have to suck your teeth and seh ‘done with duh. I going PPP/C’.”
At the Local Government Elections in 2023, the PPP/C’s votes in Linden moved from 402 in 2018 to 2,464. “Over 500% increase,” PPP General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had told a press conference.
As a result, the PPP earned two seats on the Linden Town Council while APNU received 14. Previously, the PPP had one seat.
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