PPP/C announcing 2011 Manifesto at gala dinner tonight
THE ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will be announcing its Manifesto for the 2011 general elections tonight at a gala fund-raising dinner at the Princess Hotel , Providence, East Bank Demerara.
But it has urged the public to judge the Government’s performance through delivery on the 2006 manifesto.
There will also be a (Manifesto) launching tomorrow at the Lusignan tarmac, on the East Coast of Demerara, according to PPP/C Campaign Manager Mr. Robert Persaud.
“The Manifesto, as you know, is a very important document. For us, we view it as a contract with the people for the next five years,” the PPP/C executive member and  Minister of Agriculture told a press conference at the PPP/C media centre at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
He said if one were to look at the 2006 Manifesto and do a report card “you would have seen that, with the PPP/C, we take the issue of our Manifesto and sticking to the commitments we made therein very seriously.”
Persaud said the party is proud of the fact that the Government has been able to exceed some of the commitments made in the 2006 Manifesto.
“When we did the analysis, we found that there were a number of initiatives that exceeded what we had promised in that manifesto,” he said.
“In all areas of Guyana’s economy, if you look at the 2006 Manifesto and, if you look at the progress we made for the years – five years of successive growth, improvements in general well-being and living conditions of our people, expansion of our freedoms and rights in Guyana – you would have seen the tremendous achievements,” he said.
According to him, in the 2011 Manifesto, one can look forward to a very profound, practical as well as forward-looking programme for the development, transformation and modernisation of Guyana.
He assured people on the East Coast of Demerara that arrangements will be made to take the weather into consideration for tomorrow’s grand rally.
IMPORTANT
Disclosing that hundreds of calls have come in already from people asking about the weather, Persaud declared:“So rain or no rain, we will be having the rally and we will be putting facilities in place for that East Coast rally, which is considered one of our very important rallies for bringing people together.
“There are a few surprises that we have and, because they are surprises, I will not be disclosing them today. So don’t ask me,” Persaud told members of the media.
He condemned attacks against debutants for the PPP/C, among them pardoned treason accused Philip Bynoe of Linden, who was on the run for many years, while his co-accused, Mark Benschop, spent about five years behind bars.
Persaud said former members of Opposition parties have been singled out for the most horrific attacks and assaults. “We want to condemn this. We also want to say that we live in a very democratic and free environment and people are free to identify [with any party]. It is something that the PPP Government fought for. It was one of the founding principles of the PPP party when we were established and it is something that we hold very dearly.
“I want to call on civil society to reject those who try to single out, threaten, go on the platform and the media and make the most horrific, racist comments that we have seen,” the minister said.
Bynoe, who was present at the news conference, addressed the vilification that he has been subjected to, saying it is not that he is unduly worried about the attacks and threats since he is “not a political Lilliputian or neophyte.”
“I understand the nature of the game. I understand the nature of Guyana’s politics and I know very well the role division, based on ethnicity and religion, has played in really troubling our country so I am not surprised,” Bynoe told reporters.
He said he worries about what is going to happen in this new dispensation. “Guyana today is not Guyana 15 or 20 years ago, or 30 or 40 years ago. Guyana today is populated by enlightened persons, young persons, educated persons who make decisions based on objectivity and analysis. It is becoming more and more difficult to mobilise political support on the basis of race or ethnic cleavage.”