Opposition names candidate for March 2 elections

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

The main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has named retired Brigadier Mark A. Phillips as its prime ministerial candidate for the March 2 regional and general election.

Late last month, the party had indicated that it would soon start the process to select a prime ministerial candidate with Opposition Leader and the party’s general secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo saying it had already named former housing minister Irfaan Ali as its presidential candidate.

In a statement, the PPP/C said that, during a meeting of its Central Committee, Phillips “was unanimously endorsed” as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Nomination Day for the March 2 election will be on January 10.

“Mr Phillips has had a long and distinguished career in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) spanning nearly four decades, culminating with his appointment as the eighth Chief of Staff of the GDF, from September 2013, until he retired in October 2016. As a member of the Army, Mr Phillips held a number of crucial leadership positions at various levels and ranks and his consistent upward mobility clearly demonstrated that he acquitted himself with distinction in every position held,” the PPP/C said in the statement.

It said that, apart from his military training, Phillips is also well qualified academically with degrees in public management and several postgraduate diplomas in defence planning and various areas of management.

qualified, equipped

“Mr Phillips is, therefore, well qualified and equipped to partner with the PPP as its prime ministerial candidate, as it strides forward to win the upcoming elections and form the next Government of Guyana.”

The PPP/C is challenging the coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in the March 2 general and regional elections. In the last election, the APNU won by a slender one-seat majority in the 65-member Parliament. But Jagdeo, in December 2018, successfully tabled a motion of no confidence in the David Granger-led coalition after a government legislator sided with the opposition.