LINDEN, Region 10 – Once a rising figure within the People’s National Congress (PNC), former parliamentarian Jermaine Figueira took the stage alongside President Dr. Irfaan Ali at a major PPP/C campaign rally in Wismar on Saturday, calling the incumbent the only serious candidate in the September 1 elections.
“We are voting for the only candidate that makes sense,” Figueira told the crowd. “A young, energetic, confident, and visionary leader who knows how to get the job done.”
It was Figueira’s first speech on a PPP/C platform, and it marked a public break from a party he once helped represent in Parliament. Flanked by President Ali, Prime Minister Mark Phillips, and PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo, the former Region 10 MP used the moment to draw a sharp contrast between leadership styles.
“This election is about competence, experience, vision, and the ability to deliver,” he said. “President Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s vision is superior. His experience, his competence far supersede all others. His track record of delivering is unmatched, unprecedented, and incomparable.”
Figueira was one of several PNC and APNU members who have distanced themselves from the Aubrey Norton-led opposition. He was stripped of his parliamentary post before formally resigning, a decision he says was a response to being sidelined and ignored.
Since crossing the floor, Figueira says he has found a party that treats him as an equal. “I feel valued, I feel respected, and I am part of something great. I am part of a team that is putting the people and this country first.”
Linden, widely known as a traditional PNC stronghold, was central to Figueira’s message. He challenged the narrative that residents have been marginalised under PPP rule. “Change is the only constant thing, and I say to you that Linden is changing, that Guyana is changing,” he told supporters. “Some don’t want you to accept that, but we are seeing the changes. We are experiencing the changes. And come September 1, we are going to vote for the man who’s bringing that.”
