WITH general elections constitutionally due within three months, a new political party has popped up with the intention of fostering inclusive governance.

The party, A New and United Guyana (NUG), was formed by former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran; former Foreign Trade Minister under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration, Dr Henry Jeffrey; businessman, Terrence Campbell; and Attorney-at-Law Timothy Jonas.

In a joint statement, the politicians, who described themselves as concerned Guyanese, said the majority of the electorate had welcomed the election of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) in 2015 and many had looked forward to a change, not only in policies, but also in a reduction of the divisions that had beset our country for decades.

“We were all very impressed with the APNU+AFC manifesto promise in 2015 to implement reforms to our constitution that would allow separate presidential elections; the prime minister coming from the party obtaining the second highest [number of] votes; and each party securing 15 percent or more votes to have a share in the government.

We believed that this accorded with the broad sentiments and interests of the Guyanese people and that they would wholeheartedly support such changes. We believed that such changes would have ended adversarial politics in Guyana and would have ensured that the interests of every ethnic group are protected,” the four men stated.

The founders of NUG said that from all indications, the opposition was in support of constitutional reform and would have supported the move, but the coalition government has “dropped the ball.”

They said it soon became clear that the government had no intention of honouring its election promise of constitutional reform.

“As a result of this failure, politics as usual has continued, thereby perpetuating the divisions even as Guyana has discovered petroleum resources that will transform our country,” the politicians said, while noting that ethno-political discord has continued.
“With the experience of two unstable governments, the continuation of the internecine discord reflective of ethno-political disputes and need for a higher degree of political unity to deal with the enormous and urgent problems of devising systems and structures to cope with and manage the new petroleum industry, we believe that the urgent necessity to reform governance mechanisms to reflect inclusive governance is self-evident and is the most urgent issue now facing the Guyanese people,” Ramkarran and his colleagues said.
They believe that the only way to effectively promote their vision for Guyana would be to get involved in the political arena of the country. It was on that basis that they decided to form a new political party.

“Its primary and immediate, though not sole, objective, is to promote constitutional reform leading to inclusive governance. We also have a full menu of proposals to deal with all aspects of governance and have been working on those to be published at an appropriate time,” they said.

According to the politicians, they will soon unveil a menu of proposals with the hope of buying into the support of Guyanese. “We will implement them if the Guyanese people elect us to office. In relation to constitutional reform, we believe that the APNU+AFC manifesto proposals are a good starting point for national debate. We will consider our own proposals at a later date and in doing so will rely on a free debate among the Guyanese people,” they explained.

Cognisant of the history of third parties in Guyana — the TUF and the AFC– the four men are pledging never to form a coalition.

“While we hope to obtain the confidence of the Guyanese people at the forthcoming elections to become the majority party, or one holding the plurality, we understand that for the time being we will be categorised as a third party with the usual negative connotations, having regard to the history of the TUF, and more recently, the AFC. We would like to assure the Guyanese people that, if we do not secure a majority or plurality of votes at the elections, under no circumstance will we ever join in a coalition with either of the major parties to sustain it in office or for ourselves to gain political office or positions,” they said.
According to the politicians, they are not re-entering or entering the political arena for political or financial gain or office, but with the intention of fostering unity among Guyanese.

It was explained that according to the proposal on the table, the major political parties supported by the vast majority of Guyanese will be part of the government defending their interests.

“Guyanese who support one of the major parties, therefore, should feel no sense of betrayal of their party of preference by supporting our party because our struggle is to get all major parties participating in the government,” the men said.

The also acknowledged the need to broaden representation to include all ethnicities, genders, religions and youth in the party and its leadership.

“We expect a large influx of friends, well-wishers and young people and from among the tens of thousands of Guyanese who are dissatisfied and are looking for leadership. We expect to provide a political home for all Guyanese.

“We invite all civil society organisations and other political groups and parties to support our agenda,” they said.

They have also been in discussion with the leaders of the Liberal and Justice Party – another new political party being formed to contest the general elections.