A time for action

Nov 24, 2019 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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“We are a movement to establish an equitable society, in a stable political environment with a prosperous economy. We are a movement, most of all, to secure the future of our youth and our children.”- HE David Granger

We are in an election season and A Partnership for National Unity – APNU – will continue to fight for the people of this country. It is evident, that the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) wants to take us back to the dark days of one-party rule, poor governance, corruption and nepotism. However, the advent of coalition politics has shown the people of Guyana that shared governance is the way of the future.
Evidence has shown that the race-based politics and policies of the past was a roadblock to social cohesion and making Guyana ‘One Nation.’ Guyana, with all of its resources would not reach its true potential and embrace modernity if the old ways of doing business was allowed to continue. This partnership (APNU) and the 2015 general and regional elections gave the nation a chance to hit the reset button, and the leaders a new pallet on which to promote policies and programs designed to advance the interest of all the people of Guyana.
The present political climate creates an opportunity for cooperation and consultation, but unfortunately the current leadership of the PPP is not interested. The question must be asked; why is the PPP bent on confrontation and collision rather than cooperation and cohesion?
Fortunately for Guyana, APNU+AFC have always advocated for inclusionary democracy. The parties that make up the coalition are determined and will continue to advocate for inclusionary democracy. We owe it to future generations that the politics of the past remain in the past. We still believe that our task is to transform disunited parties into a government of national unity. In short, APNU+AFC has embraced change.
The PPP ruled Guyana for more than two decades and during that time they proved that they were incapable of governing in the interest of all the people. The PPP in government was a prime example of why ‘one-party’ government is wrong for Guyana. During its 23 years in office, the PPP Government established an unenviable record of criminality, corruption, human rights abuse, abuse of power, obstruction of justice and incompetence.
Lest we forget, just four short years ago in 2015, APNU and the AFC came together because Guyana was at a breaking point. Guyanese were tired and fatigued after more than two decades of a failed PPP government. The PPP had dragged our nation to the pit of the human development index. The record numbers of arson, armed robbery, murders, suicides, road fatalities, illiteracy, unemployment, trafficking in persons, and trafficking in narcotics had made Guyana a pariah state in this hemisphere. The PPP worse still, had divided our nation through its politics.
Thankfully, most Guyanese are committed to working towards a unified Guyana. Thankfully, the APNU+AFC coalition has been making every effort and is committed to working towards a unified Guyana. The Coalition has worked assiduously to ensure that Guyanese have a better understanding and appreciation of each other, so as to forge consensus and ultimately; a united and developed Guyana. In 2015, the coalition made several promises to the nation and has kept and continues to keep those promises.
The evidence is there for all to see, that the coalition APNU+AFC over the last four years has governed in the national interest. The coalition is the face of the future. Our common commitment is to give all Guyanese a ‘good life’ and we encourage members and supporters of the PPP to join us as compatriots as we work together to ensure that our children enjoy a great future.
APNU+AFC after just over four years in office has turned the ship of state around. The coalition has put an end to cronyism in high places that was draining our financial resources. We established a Procurement Commission. We have started to arrest the crime that was bleeding the bodies of our women and youth and scaring away investors; we have begun to clean up the corruption in our law-enforcement and regulatory agencies; we have cleaned up and restored our capital city, kept the nation safe and public and as a result, investor confidence has been restored.
We must now fan-out in our communities, roll up our sleeves and get to work. This is no time for hand-wringing and what-ifs, this is a time for action. The APNU+AFC coalition is the best organised and largest mass-based political formation in Guyana. We must use our reach and mobilize our resources. The people of Guyana are with us. They have seen what we have accomplished in just four short years. We must not let the PPP distort the narrative of a good life, with empty platitudes and dishonest promises.
In 2015, the Guyanese people at general and regional elections expressed a vote of no-confidence in the PPP. Since that time the PPP has engaged in a strategy of non-cooperation and outright sabotage of the APNU+AFC government. The reason for this course of action by the PPP, led by its maximum leader and sole spokesperson is simple. The PPP is trapped in the politics of the past.
The PPP still believes in ‘one-party’ government, even though over four decades of that style of governance shows that it is the wrong model for Guyana. The PPP still believes in the ‘winner -takes-all’ political culture, even though the evidence shows that culture is dangerously dysfunctional and harmful to our national development. Also, the PPP wants to get control of the petroleum dollars. We cannot allow that to happen.
In his address to the 19th Biennial Congress of the Peoples National Congress Reform; President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, His Excellency David Granger said that the mission… was to enable all Guyanese to enjoy ‘a good life’ which they deserve as citizens of an independent state. He said, “The PNCR and its coalition partners in government…. face several challenges. Thankfully, we are better together than asunder.” He said that the PNCR together with its partners will lead by example. “Our parties won the support of the majority of the population. We have a duty to fulfil our mandate to preserve Guyana as the land of beautiful people and bountiful resources.”
It is now a time for action.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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