Bert Wilkinson, Gleaner Writer

Georgetown, Guyana:

For as long as she can remember, Sheila Singh and her relatives have voted for the East Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party (PPP).

"My family loved Cheddi Jagan. He was a good man, but I am not sure about dem people running the country now. I want change, but going to make up me mind on Monday."

A pool of 492,000 eligible voters from a national population of a mere 730,000 go to the polls in the regional and general elections to elect a new five-year government tomorrow.

For Ms. Singh, a pensioner, gangland violence, the influence of the drugs trade and money laundering, the lack of jobs for her grandchildren and lingering tensions between Indians and the Afro population have become too burdensome for her to describe life as sweet in Caricom's largest member state.

Residents stock up on food

"Me go see how things go on Monday," she said as Guyanese swarmed open-air and supermarkets on the weekend to stock up on food and basic supplies in case there is an outbreak of violence that has been the case with several elections since the 1960s.

Ten parties will fight for 65 seats in Parliament, but only three of them are seen to be in with a chance of winning: the PPP of incumbent economist President Bharrat Jagdeo, 43; the main opposition Afro-supported People's National Congress (PNC) of attorney Robert Corbin, 56; and, the upstart nine-month-old multiracial Alliance For Change (AFC) of 39-year-old attorney Raphael Trotman.

The AFC is widely known to have the backing of Washington and rich businessmen in the diaspora.

Others like the Justice For All Party (JFAP) of television station owner Chandra Narine Sharma, the GAP-Roar combination of businessman Paul Hardy and intellectual Ravi Dev and The United Force (TUF) of affable Tourism Minister Manzoor Nadir are expected to pick up seats. The others are seen as mere political passengers.

Barring the JFAP and the AFC, all the others had seats in the previous parliament dissolved in early May.

Polls show that the PPP is ahead in the race even though the PNC and the AFP have been making spectacular gains among undecided voters and those who say they have had enough of runaway corruption and their discomfort with the closeness of the PPP leadership to the drugs trade.

Polls close at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow . Armoured police cars are already out in force and Jagdeo says the military will be on the streets. He is pleased that speakers have stayed away from race, religious and other contentious issues saying this offers hope for a new political dispensation.