Explaining his decision to launch a new political party, businessman Robert Badal yesterday said he wants to lead Guyana out of “economic underdevelopment” after successive administrations since independence have failed to address the challenges of the day.
“The biggest challenge facing Guyana is undoubtedly its economic woes caused by decades of leadership which have been unable to competently lay out a vision and strategy to make Guyana a rich and productive nation and fulfill the aspiration of its citizens,” Badal said in a statement as he broke his silence on the new party.
Stabroek News had reported yesterday that Badal and accountant Nigel Hinds would be heading the ticket of a soon-to-be-launched party, called Change Guyana.
When contacted by this newspaper on Friday on the launch of the party, Badal asked “How do you know about that?” After he was read the contents of a flyer which advertised the party, the businessman would neither deny nor confirm. Instead, he said that he will hold a press conference sometime this week.
In a statement issued yesterday, Badal, who had been a staunch supporter of the governing coalition partner Alliance For Change (AFC), lamented that despite its abundant natural resources, Guyana remains among the poorest in the region in terms of per capita income. “We remain stuck in time while other neighbouring countries continue to accelerate. Successive administrations, since independence, have failed to address the challenges of the day and provide the opportunities for growth and economic upliftment of Guyanese which has triggered spiraling crime, domestic violence, mass migration and utter hopelessness among our youths,” he said.
Badal added that it was against this background that he and Hinds have partnered and would soon launch their movement “to lead Guyana out of economic underdevelopment.” He asserted that their “decades of successful experience in building billion dollar businesses” will be put to work every day, in every community, in every sector to produce an economy and society where families can live, work and enjoy.
“We promise a lean, clean, open, transparent and accountable Government. Our focus, and that of our team, will be on the economic development of Guyana and its people through harnessing the entrepreneurial energies of the private sector and the guardianship of civil society which would results in opportunities for all,” he added.
Badal is the proprietor of the Pegasus Hotel and Guyana Stockfeeds.
A flyer seen by this newspaper described it as “A new and bright political party on a mission to ignite economic and social development for the benefit of all Guyanese.” The new party is expected to be launched at the Pegasus Hotel on October 29th. The symbol for the party is a light bulb.
Badal is expected to be the presidential candidate, while Hinds is to be the prime ministerial candidate.
Badal recently launched a major expansion of his Kingston hotel business and had formerly served as Chairman of the Guyana Power and Light Inc under the APNU+AFC government.
Hinds was formerly the Chairman of Guyana Water Inc under the current administration before resigning over differences with management of the utility.
AFC leaders on Friday expressed surprise at the news of the new party.
“That comes as a surprise. That just comes as a surprise,” AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan said on Friday when contacted.
He queried if this newspaper would have “checked” with Badal and when he was answered in the affirmative, he paused and then said, “Well, that just comes as a surprise is all I could say.”
AFC co-founder and executive Raphael Trotman also expressed surprise but said that he wishes them well as he knows firsthand how difficult it would be for newly formed parties.
“All I can say is that I wish them well. Launching a new party in a highly polarised environment is not going to be easy. It wasn’t easy for us in the AFC in 2005, and the political landscape has certainly become more complex and difficult since,” Trotman said.
With the proclamation of March 2nd, 2020 as the date for general and regional elections, several new parties have launched plans to contest the polls.
When Badal had endorsed the AFC in 2011, he called the party “the most credible option” to take the country forward.
“Today we have not only a clear choice but a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to support a change in government,” Badal said at an AFC news conference. “I am a businessman not a politician, but as a businessman and a citizen of this country it is my duty to say something is wrong when it is wrong, free of any fear of intimidation or victimization,” he had said.
Badal had said that an AFC-government led by Ramjattan, Trotman, Moses Nagamootoo and a dynamic team of young professionals would “restore decency and integrity to government, ensure transparency and accountability to Guyanese, and halt the accelerating web of corruption.”
During the latter years of the PPP/C government, Badal had been one of the few voices in the private sector critical of the government.
And since the coalition gained office in 2015, the PPP/C’s criticisms of Badal intensified and the party claimed that he had been given preferential treatment because of his closeness to the AFC.
