PPP/C only promises what we can deliver, our brand is important – Nandlall

Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Anil Nandlall has asserted that the party’s brand is important and this is why it only makes promises it can keep.

He made the remarks on Tuesday evening during his programme ‘Issues in the News’ as he commented on the ongoing political campaigns ahead of the fast-approaching September 1 polls.

“You see, what’s important in electoral politics is achievements, is a track record to which a voter can point, to say, ‘I’m voting for this man because this is what he has done, or I’m voting for this party because this is what this party has done’. The PNC runs away from its past, runs away from its past. There is nothing that they can point to of substance after all those years in government,” Nandlall contended, referring to the People’s National Congress-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as well as the Alliance For Change (AFC).

“The voter can trust the PPP, and they know that they can trust the PPP, because we have been there, and we have made promises, and we have delivered on those promises…We are… not making those promises that are a bed of roses. Our promises are rooted in reality. They are rooted in pragmatism. We will only promise what we are able to deliver because our brand is important, our credibility is crucial,” Nandlall expressed.

He referred to politicians on the other side as “tricksters”.

“They are con artists. They tell you what you want to hear. So the last election, they told the rice farmers that they’re going to give them $9,000 back for paddy. When they got into office, (they said) government doesn’t do paddy, government doesn’t do rice…They went to the sugar estates, and they sent Nagamootoo and Ramjattan, and they said, ‘we are going to increase wages, we are not going to close down any estate’, And when the people voted for them, they shut down the estates…,” Nandlall detailed.

Against this backdrop, he asked “how can you choose these people?”

Nandlall, who is also the country’s Attorney General, said the choice in the upcoming elections is clear

“So, the voter in Guyana has a very simple choice to make. You have, on the one hand, the People’s Progressive Party, a party that has been in existence since the 1st of January 1950 and has contested every single election held in Guyana since. So it’s a party that has three quarters of a century of experience as a mass movement political party,” Nandlall outlined.

On the other hand, he said the opposition parties, including the newly formed ones, have nothing to offer.

Nandlall urged that persons vote for the PPP/C based on merit.

“Every time we speak, we say to the voter, to the electorate, don’t vote for us because we are asking you to vote for us. Vote for us because we are the right choice, we are a viable option. Vote for us because of what we have done. Vote for us on merit. Vote for us because of issues, programmes, and plans,” he said.