Khemraj:
Fellow Guyanese, friends and supporters of the AFC. As we head to the polls on Monday August 28 let us take some time to reflect on where we are, how we got there and what we really need to do move Guyana forward.
We cannot continue as a nation the way we are today.
Racial division has destroyed the foundations of our country. Our Economy is in tatters and our health care system is unable to properly serve our needs.
Mismanagement and corruption have become part of what seems to be the norm in Guyana. A country cannot make progress, grow and provide hope in these conditions.
To add insult to injury, crime has become rampant and the government is unable to deal with it effectively. Today, we are prisoners in our own homes.
We who can afford it have built high walls around our homes and installed wrought iron bars in our windows. Some of us have enough locks on our doors that we can start a small hardware store.
We have degenerated from a civil society that was the envy of the English speaking Caribbean into the depths of lawlessness ruled by drug lords and bullies with guns.
Those who can afford it have armed guards. What about the other 80% of us who hardly have enough to eat? What about security for THOSE people? We can and must do better.
Driven by all these factors, our people, our most important resource, continue to leave these shores in droves seeking a better life elsewhere, while Guyana continues to sink into poverty and despair.
84% of our educated people are out of Guyana. People do not leave their homeland in those large numbers if there is progress at home.
People do not break up their family and spread out all over the world if they can live in peace and have success at home. It’s time to stop this.
We have to get rid of this government and replace it with an AFC administration that will work for all Guyanese. We will end racial politics, corruption and crime and we will work to make life better for all Guyanese.
Our program which we have been discussing with you these past several weeks includes:
· SAFETY AND SECURITY
· FAIR WAGES
· NEW AND IMPROVED JOBS
· EDUCATION for OUR EDUCATORS
· AMERINDIAN RIGHTS NEXT TO NONE
· A HOME FOR EVERY FAMILY
· FAIR taxation
· NEW, cleaner and cheaper ENERGY RESOURCES
· ADEQUATE and affordable TRANSPORTATION
I am asking you to take the time before voting to consider the condition of our nation, the alternative we are presenting
and to give us your vote on Monday so that we can start the urgent work needed to start rebuilding our society. I want to assure you that we are not alone.
Your friends and relatives in the diaspora, those living abroad have opened their hearts and are ready to help us. They cannot work with the other parties.
They need, as we all do, a new start. Let’s give ourselves a chance to seize this opportunity for change by voting AFC on Monday. Don’t Vote Race…Vote Change, Vote for the AFC.
Raphael.
‘These are some serious times. We have a come a long way together. As we head closer to polling day and during polling day, we as a nation need to conduct ourselves in a way that will dignify us.
We need to respect each other’s rights to freedom. One of the most important of those rights is the right to choose the government of your choice.
I am asking all Guyanese to work together so that every person can vote free from fear, and we are working on your behalf to ensure that these elections will be free and fair.
The AFC has designated Sunday as a day of prayer and reflection and we are asking all Guyanese to join with us. We need to work together to ensure that these elections and the days following are peaceful.
The nation cannot sustain the violence that surrounds elections any longer. It damages us as a people, damages us as a nation and damages our economy which is already weak.
Let us send a clear message to the international community and to the Diaspora that, by unifying at home, we are ready for change. That we demand change.
Let us clearly demonstrate that we are eager to embrace dynamic progress and are prepared to do what it takes to advance our country. Let us get on with life and live with passion.
It is time for us to ask ourselves these simple questions: If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
My fellow Guyanese, Khemraj and I now ask each of you; all of you, to forgive and release ourselves from the past.
Join us and embrace change and feel that fresh wind that is beginning to blow across this dear land of ours.
We come before you to respectfully ask for your vote on Monday. We will act responsibly and we will work for all Guyanese.
We ask you for the opportunity to serve you and so that that we can create a better life together. Give us custody of your vote and with it AN OUTRIGHT MAJORITY. Yes! You hear that right.
There is true power when large numbers of people, stand together as one, shoulder to shoulder.
Together, let’s unlock the doors of progress and watch something marvelous happen to our country.
Let us have ASPIRATIONS… HUGE ASPIRATIONS.
Let us ACT with integrity and conviction.
Let us be BRAVE & BOLD.
Let us be a people of unwavering CHARACTER; CREATIVE in our thinking, and above all COURAGEOUS in our CONVICTIONS.
One by one we can create a new tomorrow with our vote. When you enter the polling station; and when you step into that private enclosure and you stand there in total silence,… pause a moment and …….take a deep breath.
It is now between you, your conscience and your God. You are free to vote as you wish.
And as you release that breath, ask yourself ONE question …
After 40 years, are you better off?
If the answer is … NO and you hunger for more; if you long to hold your head up with pride, if you long to walk the streets of your village and town without fear;
if you want to have a bright future for your children; if you want a decent wage at the end of the day; then you owe it to yourself and to your family, to your community and to your country to vote for change.
There is ONE clear choice. Vote AFC.
Remember … the World is watching. Let us do the right thing!!!
When the sun rises on the 29th of August 2006, let us celebrate the future we have wisely chosen.
Good night and may God bless you all
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