MEMBERS of the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HNTP) have thrown their unequivocal support behind the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) +Alliance For Change (AFC) alliance at their first General Meeting and Congress held at the F.E. Pollard Primary School yesterday. HNTP leaders told the gathering of some 40 “brethren” and “sistren” that the APNU+AFC alliance stands a good chance of being victorious at the May 11 polls, with the full support of the Rastafarian community.
IN TALKS
The HNTP and the alliance are in talks about joining forces, and according to party Chairman, Allred Parks, he is optimistic that the discussion will bear fruit when they meet again with the Alliance leader David Granger and APNU General Secretary Joe Harmon. He did not say when the meeting will be held, but told the Guyana Chronicle that it will be soon.
The small party was previously in talks with the Alliance but it reportedly fell through. However, Parks said the HNTP has not rejected the alliance, and more importantly, the alliance has not rejected them.
When the talks allegedly failed, the HNTP had said it will be contesting the elections alone, but its recent posture has indicated that it has backtracked from this position.
The party was formed after Ras Leon Saul fell out with United Republican Party (URP) Presidential Candidate Vishnu Bandhu over the legalisation of marijuana.

At the time the HTNT had said that the current crop of politicians has great difficulty in providing practical solutions to the challenges facing Guyanese.
In its “Vision 2020” agenda for change, the party said: “We recognise that we have to put the power back into the hands of the people” and not leave the development of the country to some.
The party said it aims to create wealth by transforming the nature of the economy to achieve growth, accelerate poverty reduction and protection of the vulnerable by providing proper jobs and employment opportunities through the co-operative movement.

GOOD CHANCE
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, Parks said he remains optimistic of an APNU+AFC win at the upcoming polls with Rastafarians support, pointing out that the latter hardly vote in national elections.
However, he said, with the formation of a party representing Rastafarians, there is a strong likelihood that the ‘clan’ will come out in full numbers and vote solidly for the HNTP. He also posited that the HNTP constituency, though informal, accounts for a large per cent of APNU’s support base.
On that note, Parks said the HNTP has no intention of splitting APNU’s base, thereby jeopardising the Alliance chances of winning the election.
There has been reports that there is no guarantee that the HNTP will be guaranteed a seat in Parliament should the alliance prevail at the polls, but Saul said this is “no big deal”, but if “we are offered one we would not refuse.”
He said the small party is interested in securing a regional seat in Region Four, pointing out that here is where it will be focusing on widening the APNU+AFC support base.
But the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), which controls the coalition APNU, has always commanded strong support in Region Four. The AFC also has a decent following in that region.

FULL SUPPORT
At the meeting, the gathering gave their full support to the party’s manifesto, which among other things supports shared governance, equal distribution of wealth, greater help for the less fortunate and eradication of poverty.
An excerpt of the manifesto said the HNTP seeks “to create our holistic El Dorado, we will use visionary, creative economic strategies and action, along with social and moral policies with the Co-operative Movement as a main vehicle; while establishing a multicultural society of equal rights and justice spearheaded by the legalisation of marijuana and the rule of law.”
Both the APNU and AFC had indicated that they will consider legalising marijuana if elected to office, and according to one member in the audience yesterday, the substance should be legalised, claiming that it was used by the ‘big ones’ in the ‘olden days’ and ‘many big ones today’, and “we have been using it since 19 O lang.”
According to Saul, visionary leadership is needed to take the nation out of spiritual, social economic and moral poverty. He also said the HNTP manifesto or plan of action is presented at a time when the United Nation has recognised the contributions of Africans worldwide, declaring in 2010 the International Decade of People of African Descent with focus on justice, reparation and development.
CARICOM, through its member states including Guyana, is pushing for reparations from their former colonial masters. In Guyana’s case, it is seeking redress from Great Britain and Holland.
At the General Meeting and Congress, Saul, Parks and Neville Duncan were voted in as General Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer of the HNTP respectively.
The gathering also agreed on the party’s Constitution and manifesto, and stated that they have no reservation in the party supporting David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo of the APNU+AFC alliance in the May 11 elections.

By Tajeram Mohabir