A New and United Guyana (ANUG) says that whenever general elections are called, it will be ready to bring to Guyanese fresh and sincere policies in a concise manifesto document and not “glossy but empty promises” that the two main parties have given over the decades since independence.
Key among its manifesto policies will be the issues pertaining to the oil and gas sector and a concretised plan for all contracts to be reviewed by experts in a transparent way.
“There is a general view that is held that our oil contracts have been negotiated from a position of weakness, a position of being uninformed and incompetence to conduct those negotiations. We have gotten the short end of the stick and this is not just the issue with the contract that was negotiated last year. This is an issue that was negotiated prior to this. Part of our cycle of incompetence from one party to the other party has been closed-door decisions made not in the interest of the country…but to feather some pockets and help party rather than country,” ANUG founding member Timothy Jonas told a press conference yesterday.
“These contracts need to be revisited, to be looked at but not looked at in the way they were last year. We need to recruit experts who know what they are doing, who know what they are about and will make sound decisions and advise us…so that the country reaps the rewards that we are entitled to from the oil that is there, that belongs to us. Every Guyanese knows that is not being done so far and if we keep on the same pattern, it will not be done the next go around,” he added.
With Guyana set for first oil production next year and general elections imminent, ANUG said that it will bring a manifesto with a difference that deals with all key areas of importance to Guyana’s citizenry, of which one is the oil sector.
“Both parties will say ‘we have to renegotiate, we have to look at this again’. That doesn’t help us if we go again and we continue to be incompetent; we continue to be lazy; and we don’t do it the right way. We have to get experts, we have to ensure we have expertise and scrutinise what is done and ensure it is transparent and everybody sees it,” Jonas said.
ANUG’s plan is to release its manifesto earlier than the other contesting parties, to give people the time to analyse it and question its members on the content when they are on countrywide outreaches.
“If you read those manifestos they are glossy but empty promises. Take any manifesto, they are 40, 50 pages [long]. They promise the heavens and when you read them, nothing is achieved. We don’t aim to go that route. We aim to do a short manifesto, we aim to put forward our manifesto in good time to give the electorate the opportunity to interrogate it and to interrogate us,” party executive Ralph Ramkarran said.
Optimum time
“We have to choose an optimum time to present it to the public. We have decided to present it early but we haven’t made that decision yet,” he added, while listing areas that would be addressed such as “education, health, security, corruption, agriculture, oil…we are looking [at] all that matter to the people of Guyana.”
Meantime, in a statement, ANUG said, “We are not a one issue party and will be presenting a full programme while identifying our core issues. ANUG believes that the people of Guyana deserve better than the cycle of ethnic division perpetuated by the two major parties. Without ANUG, either one or the other will win the elections and take a majority in Parliament. We have experienced that a return of either one will not change the shape and direction of policies that have been implemented since 1992 and will not end corruption, crime, discrimination, favouritism, unemployment and economic policies that do not bring adequate development for our people.”
The statement said that since ANUG’s launch on the 18th January 2019, it has been engaged in building its organisation and seeking the support of the Guyanese people. “We have been active in outreaches on the East Coast, in Linden, in Berbice, on the West Coast and in Essequibo. We have been active on social media and have a presence on television screens and the airwaves. We have met a large number of organisations to explain our objectives and broad policies. We have engaged in worthwhile activities such as promoting a clean environment in which our youths have been involved. The reception all around has been positive,” it said.
“Our work has only just begun in the fight against ethnic voting, notwithstanding distrust of third parties resulting from the AFC’s implosion. We believe that we have already made an impact having explained our fundamental objectives,” ANUG added.
The party is working to ensure that there is unified governance through structural changes in Guyana’s government system, by way of constitutional reform that would make it unique from all other parties.
Constituency system
“We aim to have a Presidential System and Government in which all the major political parties will serve. We advocate for the complete separation of powers between the executive and legislature and a constituency system with a mechanism for proportionality. The public appreciates our commitment not to join any other political party, to assist that party to gain political office or for ourselves to gain such office. This distinguishes us from any third party in the past,” the statement observed.
“With ANUG, the opportunity will emerge for a complete makeover of the political system which Guyanese desire; the opportunity of rejecting the entrenched voting patterns by creating a system of governance where the major political parties representing the main ethnic groups will have a seat at the table. Ethnic insecurity, discrimination and marginalisation will be eliminated and the major political forces will be able to cooperate on the issues of development. Corruption and crime will be placed at the top of the agenda. Good governance will be an important principle underlying decision-making. Guyana’s politics needs to break the cycle. New challenges are on the horizon with the coming of oil. The people of Guyana, having experienced the long-term rule of both major political parties, they do not need to be told that, singly, each party does not deliver security and comfort to all the people of Guyana and does not represent the interests of all the people of Guyana. ANUG offers that possibility,” the statement said.
“In the past, third parties offered an end to ethnic politics by offering to replace the major parties. But we have seen again and again, for over sixty years, that the people of Guyana are unwilling to abandon what they believe to be the safety and comfort of their traditional ethnic party. ANUG’s offer is not to challenge or defy the ethno-political will of the people of Guyana but to create a system where both major parties share in the Government. We are offering the people of Guyana to make their political parties’ winners, whatever the outcome of the elections. After elections, there will be only winners. Both major race groups have been political losers. They know that it feels as if their entire futures are under challenge when their party loses. ANUG will bring that situation to an end,” it added.
“ANUG has entered the political arena to win the elections. We have confidence that the people of Guyana will see the wisdom of our programme. If we obtain a majority or plurality of the votes, we will invite the other parties to join in a national unity government and will immediately embark on constitutional reform to bring about the changes we advocate,” the statement said.
Nonetheless, if the party doesn’t gain the plurality, it hopes that voters will ensure that they have enough seats to deny either of the main political forces a majority.
“However, the reality of our past history of ethnic voting does not escape us. If we are unable to persuade the Guyanese people to give us an absolute majority or plurality, we hope to obtain enough seats in the National Assembly to ensure that neither party obtains an absolute majority. We are very confident that this is a real possibility,” ANUG stated.
“In the absence of a majority or plurality, but with a balance of power, we will negotiate our case for constitutional reform. Both political parties have called for constitutional reform to implement programmes for shared governance or winner does not take all politics. When they win elections, both have reneged on their promises. ANUG is determined to end ethno-political dominance and to introduce unified governance for the benefit of all Guyana and the end of ethno-political dominance,” it added.
Meantime, Ramkarran said that once the country goes into elections mode, ANUG will announce its presidential candidate.
