In a fiery address at the official launching of the Alliance for Change’s (AFC’s) Local Government Elections campaign, Deputy Campaign Manager, Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes, declared her party solely responsible for the 2015 victory of the now Coalition Government.
“We, the AFC, we alone, made 2015 possible. Anybody else that want to say that they could have done it by itself — and you know who I talking about — ask them how, in all them elections before, they couldn’t do it. Even if by some terrible fluke we ended up with half the seats we got before then, somebody who was forming a Government still got to come and talk to we; so remember that when everybody pulling you down,” Hughes charged.
She made the statement at the AFC’s Railway Embankment, Kitty Center for Change at the first Candidates Expo on Saturday.
The minister said that, some 13 years ago, the AFC met and committed to be the agents of change, and they have excelled at doing just that.
She told the Local Government Election (LGE) candidates they need to understand that they will know when they are working hard, because there will be a lot of external forces attempting to pull them down.
“In terms of the stability of the Coalition, we may have been too accommodating; who knows? We get blamed for that, but guess what: we learn fast, and we are ready for this next important phase,” she noted.
Hughes reminded the candidates that change is a process, and that now is the time to instill the long-lost hope in the communities. She urged the new members to start working at the grassroots level and make their way up the ladder towards political success.
“Local content is not about legislation, but how you prepare yourself, your children and families to grasp the opportunities that are ahead. You got to look for the opportunities and grasp them. Only you are responsible for yourself, and failure to grasp these opportunities,” Hughes added.
Meanwhile, AFC Campaign Manager, Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, said the time is now when the AFC shows the country that it is alive and well, and not dead and buried as some people have been saying. He said he has been receiving numerous complaints of dirty campaigning, and he urged the candidates to be respectful to their opponents. Additionally, he said that if they are leaving messages on social media, then they ought not to attach their names, since “plausible deniability is what we live by.
“If war break, defend yourself at all times. I don’t believe in turning the next cheek. People complaining that the AFC ministers are going into regions and saying that the community projects that Government done we are claiming (them) as our contribution. Any road I build, you tell them is David Patterson from AFC build it, and we have to walk the walk. We are too modest to take our credit,” Patterson said.
“They had a chance. We went to it and said to them that here are our rules of engagement and here is what we would like as a coalition to participate in Local Government. So therefore you tell them that every single IT hub – yes, the money come from the Government, but the brains, the style, the execution, the charisma is Minister Cathy Hughes…You don’t be ashamed to claim what is yours,” Patterson said, while throwing shade at its Coalition partner APNU.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo also delivered remarks, urging the candidates to fight the good fight.
The party will host similar events in other regions on upcoming dates. The event also saw the launch of the party’s campaign jingle, ‘Fit & Proppa’, and the LGE Edition of The Key – the party’s newspapers.
