Granger receives overwhelming support as PNCR Presidential Candidate in the U.S

By Natasha Waldron Anthony

Retired head of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier David Granger, has just concluded a week-long visit to the United States, instigated by the invitation of the PNCR group in New York. During his visit, Granger spoke about his plans for the development of Guyana, were he elected president. He is confident that his experience and the policies his campaign is built on have given him the advantage above the other three candidates vying for the position of PNCR presidential candidate.

Granger’s campaign platform includes improving education, creating more job opportunities for young people, re-establishing the Guyana National Service, and improving security, among other initiatives. 

In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International in New York, Granger stated that the whole idea is to make Guyana a place that is friendly for investment, which the Guyanese diaspora worldwide can also take advantage of. “I would like to confidently attract the diaspora to come back home and feel safe to invest their funds. And that’s the sort of program I’m putting out to them.” 

The PNCR will nominate its presidential candidate in February, and Granger says that, in the meantime, he has a long road ahead in his quest to be elected to represent that party. He stated that he has still to meet party groups in other areas, particularly the hinterland, where there are a few groups, and on the Essequibo coast. 

Granger, last Tuesday, gained 61 points in the North America Region in a peculiar points system relative to the party nomination. He met with various party groups in New York and New Jersey, and attended a Christmas event hosted by Friends of the PNCR in Washington D.C. He also met ex-Guyana Defence Force officers in Maryland at an event hosted by the Granger Action Group. He told Guyana Times International that, while the reaction to his campaign has been overwhelming, this visit has been a learning experience for him. 

“Guyana is one country split between two continents; one half is in North America, the other half is in South America, because the size of the diaspora here is almost the same size as the population of Guyana. So I told them I didn’t see the diaspora as being alien; I saw them as Guyanese, and I kept addressing them as Guyanese”. 

As part of his campaign platform, he proposed to establish a separate government department that would address issues and concerns of the diaspora, including wills, land and investments, dual citizenship, and overseas voting.