Focus on winning

Those who are campaigning for APNU, - AFC should let go of fear and doubt. Worry is a waste of creativite energy
Imagine that you are one of the hundreds of thousands who will boldly create a beautiful new page in Guyanese history by firmly putting your , 'x' against AFC APNU on the  ballot paper.
Visualize your feeling of joy and relief as you say goodbye to this current phase of Guyanese life.

Granger calls on Ramotar to Halt Transfer of NDC Overseers

Opposition Leader Brigadier David Granger has called on President Donald Ramotar to halt the People’s Progressive Party Civic administration’s plan to re-deploy overseers of several Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC).

Granger wrote to Ramotar pointing out that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and members of several Neighbourhood Democratic Councils are deeply concerned about the arbitrary transfer of their duly appointed overseers to areas outside of the jurisdiction of their NDC by the Minister of Local Government or his officials, without any consultation with them.

The result of the Minister’s action is that confusion has been created among Councils, the communities they represent and the political partners of APNU, particularly the People’s National Congress Reform. Overseers affected by the Minister’s arbitrary decision are likely to suffer grave inconvenience and financial loss because of their assignments to areas far from where they reside and to areas with which they are not familiar.

APNU does not believe that the law permits the Minister of Local Government to exercise such authority in the absence of specific recommendations from the relevant NDC.  It would be unwise, even if the Minister had such authority, to take such a drastic step without consulting the NDCs that were elected by their constituency.

The Minister’s public pronouncement suggests that he is under the illusion that the overseers employed through the NDC with his approval are the staff of the Ministry of Local Government.  Such a notion is very dangerous to the development of local democracy in Guyana.  It emphasises the urgent need for the completion of Local Government reform as contained in the recommendations of the Local Government Task Force.

Granger urged Ramotar to halt the Minister’s action and to discuss the matter in order to arrive at an acceptable outcome.

                                                          

OPPOSITION LEADER DAVID GRANGER CONGRATULATES REGIONAL CHAIRMAN SHARMA SOLOMON

Leader of the Opposition Brigadier David Granger was the first to congratulate the new Chairman of Upper Demerara-Berbice Region Sharma Solomon on his election which took place on Wednesday 25^thJanuary.

Sharma, probably the youngest regional chairman, was elected unopposed from among eighteen new members of the Regional Democratic Council. Thirteen councilors were drawn from A Partnership for National Unity and the remaining five from the People’s Progressive Party Civic and Alliance For Change.  Byron Lewis of Kwakwani was elected Deputy Chairman after a split vote.

Brigadier Granger, in his remarks, thanked outgoing Chairman Mortimer Mingo for his years of service.  He urged the new RDC to put regional before personal interests and the public duty before private pursuits.  He called on all councillors – APNU, AFC and PPPC – to collaborate in order to give the Region’s 42,000 residents a “good life” that was promised during the 2011 general and regional elections campaign.

APNU CONDEMNS THE SACKING OF UNIVERSITY LECTURER

A Partnership for National Unity has condemned the termination of the contract of outspoken political scientist and newspaper columnist Frederick Kissoon with the University of Guyana. APNU regards the action as a violation of academic freedom and press freedom.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic administration used its voting power on the UG Council to terminate the lecturer’s contract in the middle of an academic year, a few months before it would have come up for review. APNU regards this recent act as a violation of Kissoon’s right to freedom of expression as a columnist, academic freedom as a lecturer and civil rights as a citizen. 

APNU said that this move has come at a time when the University of Guyana is already in crisis and has been finding it difficult to attract lecturers in several academic departments. The Partnership said that Mr. Kissoon has a natural right to be informed of the reasons for the termination of his contract and called for the lecturer’s re-instatement.

APNU has closely monitored the PPPC’s hostile attitude towards columnists and journalists who criticized President Bharrat Jagdeo over the past 12 years.  The Partnership expressed regret that, so early in his tenure as President, Mr Donald Ramotar would take such a retrograde step by allowing such an incident to occur. 

Final declaration should result from an “all party verification” of the SOP’s for Region 4

by Apnu Guyana on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 12:57pm

A Partnership for National Unity (A.P.N.U) has, as a consequence of the many and serious discrepancies in the computation of the results, particularly for Region 4, asked its Assistant Election Agent for Region 4 and senior A.P.N.U leaders, to engage in the procedure of verification on which the computation, that is the basis for the declaration by the Returning Officer for Region 4, will be based.

In addition, A.P.N.U has, this morning, dispatched a letter to Mr. Gocool Boodhoo, the Chief Elections Officer, reiterating our position that the final declaration should result from an “all party verification” of the SOP’s for Region 4 and any other Region where serious discrepancies are found to exist.

It is unfortunate that reports continued to be received of questionable discrepancies as well as the tampering and unauthorised modification of Statements of Poll.

A.P.N.U, as a responsible Partnership, has asked its supporters to remain calm though vigilant and avoid responding to the various provocative statements and actions being perpetrated at this time. It is evident that the PPP’s agents are bent on engineering incidents to distract attention from their sinister intents regarding the influencing of the results to be declared by GECOM.