Despite mounting criticism about its campaign methods and poor visibility in some regions, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party maintained that its candidates are on the ground working hard to garner votes. This was specifically noted by Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul during the party’s weekly press conference.
The party came in for heavy criticism on social media, where many persons stated that they were unaware of which of APNU candidates are competing in certain districts.
When asked today by Guyana Standard about the party’s campaign strategy and concerns about its visibility, the members were reluctant, positing that it does not want its approach to be used or copied by the current administration. The party was further asked about the claims made by constituents about the visibility of its candidates.
Mahipaul in response said, “We must not be consumed into believing that this is a centralized system. Local democracy is decentralized and it must be respected as enshrined in the Constitution… We are still about 37 days away from the elections and in all fairness to the candidates that are going house to house, they have probably not reached those areas mentioned.”
He noted too that a number of candidates have been “going house to house” to meet with potential voters. Mahipaul explained that candidates would have already engaged with residents, especially since nominations were needed before their campaigns began.
Mahipaul was however still reluctant to speak about the party’s campaign strategy, adding that it is supporting its candidates. He expressed confidence in the current, unknown strategy that the party is using to spread its message.
