Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton, disagrees that his party’s recent election campaign launch failed to attract the attendance of young Guyanese.
During a press conference on Friday, Norton was quizzed by the Guyana Chronicle about the apparent noticeable scarcity of young people at the event, to which he responded, “There were a lot of young people there. Most of the candidates we showcased are extremely young. I don’t understand what you are talking about.
“Sometimes I think people need to look at the facts. If you were on the ground, there were endless young people.”
While acknowledging that there was a much larger number of “older and more mature” persons at the event, he said that the younger population tends not to be involved in the political system as they should.
“But it is also true that there were many young people who attended. I would therefore suggest that it is a slightly jaundiced view to say that young people were not there,” the Leader said.
He later noted that many young people resorted to staying in their vehicles because they were fearful of exposure, since many of them are public servants. The APNU Leader went further to state that many young people who support the APNU are also government part-time workers, and they were allegedly prohibited from attending opposition rallies.
“Many of the ten-day workers, who are young, are prohibited from attending opposition rallies and are forced to go to public activities. In spite of this, there were still many young people at the event. That’s one of the points I need to make,” said Norton.
He was also keen to note that there were young public servants who sat in their cars because they did not want to be seen. “Let us not forget, we are operating in an environment in which the PPP instills fear. And there are many people who would want to attend, but cannot do so openly,” Norton added.
