The P word

Tomorrow the people of Guyana go to the polls to elect a new National Assembly and a new President of Guyana.
As volunteers we have all been trying to follow events from a safe distance, adhering to VSO policy of non-involvement in the politics of the host country. Also, as there has been a past history of election fraud and post election violence, although the two most recent elections were completed peacefully, we are to "lie low" for the next week, with our homes stocked up with goods.  (As we would for Christmas at home, forgetting that in the UK, all basic items can be bought 364 days of the year.)

The People's Progressive Party (PPP/C) has won every election since it took power from the People's National Congress (PNC) in 1992. The PPP President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who has served two terms of office must now, under the rules of the constitution, stand down.
A wish for change is freely expressed by taxi drivers, colleagues at work, and anyone who feels they can bend your ear- opinions all met with a non- committal "interesting".
46% of voters are young- between the ages of 18 and 35.
The Starbroek News today talks of no party winning an overall majority.

Any party standing must be able to field candidates for over 50% of the available seats, thus effectively ruling out small minority groups. A third of a party's candidates must be women.

Traditionally the PPP/C took the vote of the Indo-Guyanese community and the old PNC, the Afro-Guyanese. But politicians have been "crossing the floor" of the assembly and this year the ruling PPP/C - slogan "Working Together for a Better Tomorrow"- faces a new contender.
 A Party  for National Unity-APNU-with a leadership drawn from the PNC, the PPP/C, the Workers' Party Alliance (WPA) , the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the National Front Alliance (NFA) and the slogan "A Good Life for All Guyanese" makes the direct appeal across all ethnic groups.
The third party, the Alliance for Change (AFC), formed in 2001- slogan "Unlocking Guyana's Future", and logo, a key- is lead by three politicians formerly from the PPP/C, the PNC and the WPA. It also draws support from different ethnic groups and has become a main opposition party.

Scanning the manifesto materials from each of the parties on the Caribbean Elections website reveals very little policy detail other than broad sweeping promises and some key capital projects:- a road to Brazil, a deep water Harbour on the Demerara, solar and water power, maintaining Guyana's environmental status and developing the ICT infrastructure.
Since the election was announced the Guyana papers have reported charges and counter charges of wrong doings and failures levelled by rivals from all the main parties, while letters from ordinary people raising questions about poverty, pensions, housing, education health, jobs, street cleaning and rubbish collections, water and power, crime and violence indicate what people. These issues are reflected in debates on the TV.

The fact that each party has a simple logo- the PPP/C has a cup, APNU has the palm of the hand and the AFC, a key- is a reminder that some voters will be unable to read names on the ballot paper.

25 National Assembly members will be directly elected representatives for their region, based on population numbers.  The other 40 members will come from the top up list, and seats will be allocated proportionate to the share of the national vote.
The new Assembly will then elect the President and Prime Minister.

Tomorrow has been declared a public holiday.