National leadership and public stewardship
Friday, August 17, 2018
This Twentieth Biennial Delegates Congress of the People’s National Congress is a powerful and pivotal political event.
This Congress is the first after the observance of our Party’s historic 60th anniversary. Our Party was born sixty-one years ago when our people cried out for leadership in the struggle for independence. The PNC demonstrated its fitness to lead from the time it entered office as part of a coalition in 1964. The PNC in government:
– encouraged economic self-reliance, economic empowerment and economic entrepreneurship in order to reduce poverty and inequality;
– empowered women by pioneering the struggle for gender equality;
– expanded the country’s physical infrastructure – through the construction of aerodromes, bridges, educational institutions, housing schemes, highways, health clinics and hospitals;
– established and completed agricultural schemes and drainage and irrigation projects to support the agrarian economy;
– extended public services – electricity, telephones, transportation, social security and water – to citizens;
– embarked on a nation-wide system of free education from nursery to university; and
– engineered regional integration of the Caribbean, non-aligned movement and opposition to apartheid as pillars of foreign policy.
The PNCR is a sturdy party. It is erected on a solid structure and wedded to strong principles. It has rested secure, from decade to decade, on the pillars of its Constitution, Congress, General Council, Central Executive Committee, membership in regions, districts and groups and its women and youth arms.
Women, from the date of the Party’s foundation on 5th October 1957, established their own organisation, now called the National Congress of Women and have always enjoyed full and equal rights.
This Congress is a vindication of the PNCR’s fitness to lead in this era of change. Congress keeps the Party alert and aware of the changes occurring in the communities and in the country as a whole. Change is continuous and the Party needs to be ready to respond continuously while being guided by its core principles in order to remain relevant to the country’s conditions and to satisfy the people’s aspirations.
Congress brings Party leaders together to communicate, collaborate and to recommit to fulfilling our long-term ideological goals of serving the people and preserving our beautiful country.
Congress brings delegates together from all ten geographical regions and the diaspora and from all three levels of government – local, regional and central – around a collective vision of the destiny of the country and the future of our children.
Congress has much to accomplish in a few days. It seeks to:
– review the Party’s performance in government and direct its ministers, members of the National Assembly and councillors in regions, municipalities and neighbourhoods to the way forward over the next two years;
– renew the networks among Party members aimed at collectively improving their communities;
– recognise differences and difficulties when they arise and propose new policies to be pursued;
– re-set the agenda for governance – as this, arguably, will be the last Congress before local government elections in 2018 and before the general and regional elections in 2020 – and energize the party for success at these polls.
Congress will listen to delegates, learn about their challenges, share experiences, take decisions and adopt measures to promote the good life for all.
Political leadership
The PNCR has done more and gone far further than any other party in our history to create ‘an inclusionary democracy’ – an objective that is explicitly prescribed by the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
The PNCR was instrumental in the establishment of an inclusionary five-party Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in June 2011. The APNU, in turn, entered into the Cummingsburg Accord in February 2015 with the Alliance for Change. The APNU+AFC coalition now forms the government.
The PNCR, together with its political and civil partners, remains committed:
– to the multi-party coalition, bound together by the Cummingsburg Accord;
– to constructive dialogue with the political parliamentary opposition and with civil society to strengthen the practice of ‘inclusionary democracy’;
– to the ideals of coalition politics and to the broader aspiration of national unity; and
– to perfecting our incipient system of shared governance in the belief that the coalition parties are better together than apart.
Our commitment to the practice of ‘an inclusionary democracy’ has been vindicated, confirming the efficacy and necessity of the unique coalition that we created and which the electorate accepted.
Our coalition Government has brought unquestionable benefits to the Guyanese people in every field. It has allowed for the deployment of broad expertise to the task of nation-building. It has reignited hope and galvanized goodwill to confront the challenges which we inherited in 2015.
The coalition governs for the common good. The situation which it found on assuming office was worse than could have been imagined. It was a hellish inheritance.
The nation was still traumatized in the aftermath of the ‘Troubles’ of the first decade of the new millennium. That was a period when so-called ‘phantom’ death squads roamed the countryside nightly and with impunity. It was a time of uncounted execution murders, un-investigated massacres, unreported abuses, unimpeded narcotics-trafficking and seemingly unstoppable criminal violence.
The worst features of the ‘Troubles’ were revelation of the cynical disdain for the victims of the violence and the contemptuous disregard for human life which made society more callous and less compassionate. We are still trying to unravel the murky motives behind the massacres through Commissions of Inquiry.
The Inquiry into the Lindo Creek Massacre, for example, was alarming, not only for the loss of life but also for the loss of trust in a few officials and rogue officers. It is disquieting that not a single minister or senior official of the previous regime has ever come forward to provide evidence to assist in solving this atrocious crime. Their silence has been an eloquent testimony of the licence which criminal elements enjoyed during their troubled tenure during the ‘Troubles.”
Congress has a duty, and the country has the right, to find out what happened and to learn the lessons of that criminal atrocity. We must ensure that our defence and security forces protect society and are never again infiltrated or manipulated by criminal cartels or corrupt officials.
Financial mismanagement in the public sector was rife. The Guyana Sugar Corporation was bankrupt and required bailouts which drained the Treasury of more than $G30B in three years.
The rice industry had to be supported with four billion dollars to pay paddy farmers owing to the mismanagement of the PetroCaribe Fund. The National Insurance Scheme was reeling from involuntary indebtedness and required an injection of G$ 5.4 B. Numerous unpaid liabilities, including court judgments in excess of G$7 B, had to be settled.
Public infrastructure had been undermined by a proliferation of scandals as evident in the shoddy construction of several costly structures:
– the bridge at Moruca and revetments at Kumaka, in the Barima-Waini Region;
– the stelling at Supenaam, in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region;
– the bridge at Hope, in the Demerara-Mahaica Region;
– the sugar factory at Skeldon, in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region;
– the secondary school at Kato, in the Potaro-Siparuni Region;
– the fibre optic cable project, in the Rupununi Region; and,
– the head office of the Ministry of Social Protection, in Georgetown.
These infrastructural fiascos were compounded by social distress. Society became plagued by high levels of criminality, disease, emigration, school dropouts, unemployment, suicides and poverty which combined to create a climate of collective despair.
Our coalition Government responded to a deluge of demands from the ordinary people most affected by these social problems. People needed change and wanted to see immediate improvements in their lives. The nation cried out for safety. Young people clamoured for jobs. Everyone wanted better public services.
Economic stewardship
Our coalition Government, notwithstanding the gravity and chronic nature of the challenges with which it was confronted, sought to repair the damage wrought by the mismanagement of the previous regime and to transform the economy with a stronger role for an efficient public sector.
The Coalition has been diligent in its stewardship. It has set about to solve the country’s most pressing problems and to lay the foundation for stabilising the economy.
Our coalition Government started to reverse the economic decline. Real GDP growth has been sustained and inflation moderated. Fiscal and monetary prudence is being practised. The economy is being rebalanced.
The traditional sectors are being restructured and preparations are being laid for catalysing new and emerging sectors. The ‘six sisters’ – bauxite, diamonds, fish, gold, rice and sugar – which have been the victims of ‘shocks’ in external markets, are being examined with a view to moving production up the value chain, preserving workers’ jobs and searching for new markets.
The sugar industry is being restructured to return it to viability and to reduce its financial dependency on the state. The groundwork is being laid for the introduction of the new petroleum sector, the expansion of non-traditional agriculture, the extension of information communications technology and the development of renewable energy sectors.
Investment is being increased to create new jobs and to spur continued economic expansion. The Guyana Office for Investment processed 477 investment proposals valued at G$344. 3B since May 2015.
Regional Agricultural and Commercial Exhibitions (RACE) and micro-financing initiatives are stimulating enterprises and village economies and generating self-employment.
Congress must explore the viability of establishing networks of micr0-financing agencies in each region to assist women and youth living there to embark on private enterprises.
Our coalition Government has worked to improve the living standards of the average worker. The minimum wage of public servants and teachers increased by over 50 per cent, or from $39,540 to $60,000.
The Ministry of Social Protection has increased monthly old-age pensions by 48.6 per cent from $13,125 to $19,500 and public assistance by 35.5 per cent from $5,900 to $8,000. The disposable income of workers has been boosted by the increase in the income-tax threshold and by a reduction in the income-tax rate.
Corporations have benefitted from the reduction of the corporate tax rate for manufacturing and non-commercial companies from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent. The value-added tax (VAT) was reduced to 14 per cent and the VAT threshold increased from $10M to $15M.
The economy is being strengthened. The enactment of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislation is cleansing the economy of contamination by the proceeds of illicit transactions.
Our coalition Government has been promoting job-creation and support for community projects which improve livelihoods. Three micro-financing interventions – the Linden Enterprise Network (LEN), the Micro- and Small-Enterprises Development (MSED) project and the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) – have provided G$1.2 B in grants and loans to more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, including first-time business start-ups.
Almost 400 community projects – which are being financed under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) project, the Community Organized for the Restoring the Environment (CORE) project, the Amerindian Development Find (ADF) and the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) – have been granted $3.7 B.
Natural resource stewardship
Guyana is soon to become an oil-producing state. It will be the most transformative economic development in our lifetime. The management of this sector is best done under an inclusionary system so that this valuable resource can be developed and used for the benefit of all Guyanese.
The coalition Government, conscious of the country’s inexperience and inadequate human resources in this new field, has been prudently laying the groundwork for the petroleum sector to be managed in accordance with international best practices.
We established a Department of Energy on the 1st August, 2018 under my personal and direct authority within the Ministry of the Presidency. This new Department will ensure that a sound organisational, operational, legislative and regulatory framework will be put in place to manage the sector.
The Department is recruiting international and national experts to assist in this task. We shall establish, also, a Natural Resource Fund to ensure that the revenues accrued from oil and gas are used prudently.
Guyanese can be assured that the coalition Government will not be intoxicated by oil. It will manage this new resource in a responsible manner for the benefit of present and future generations.
Environmental stewardship
Guyana is a beautiful, blissful and bountiful country. We belong to the great Guiana Shield, a zone of incomparable biodiversity. It is part of the ‘lungs of the earth’ because of the environmental services which it provides and which allow for sustaining life on earth.
Our natural capital is a priceless asset. More than 75 % of our land remains forested – areas which are the habitat to some of the world’s rarest flora and fauna.
Our coalition Government is committed to preserving and protecting this unmatched resource by securing our natural capital to become the basis for ensuring prosperity and sustainable development for future generations.
We established a Department of Environment on 1st September 2016 under my personal and direct authority within the Ministry of the Presidency. This Department has combined the energies of the Environmental Protection Agency, National Parks Commission, Protected Areas Commission and the Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission to ensure that sound organisational, operational procedures are put in place to manage the environment.
Guyana is in transition to becoming a ‘green’ state. The ‘green’ state is a comprehensive developmental model which places emphasis on the protection of our environment, the preservation of our biodiversity, the promotion of the use of renewable energy and the adoption of practical measures to ensure climate adaptation.
This country understands too well the risks posed by climate change. We cannot ignore the evidence of the daily damage to the coastal zone, frequency of flooding in the hinterland and extreme meteorological events. Guyana’s adhesion to the Paris Agreement on climate change affirmed that we stand on the side of the believers – those who are interested in slowing the rise in global temperatures.
This country’s credentials as a global leader on the environment are unassailable. The PNC government gave effect to the Langkawai Declaration on the Environment issued by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malaysia in 1989 by committing a forested area of 371,000 hectares. This is now known as Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development – an international model for conservation and sustainable forest management.
Our national interest is tied to international cooperation and collaboration to address the adverse effects of climate change. Pursuit of the national interest was manifest in my participation in the:
– Twenty-second Session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Marrakesh, Morocco;
– Third United Nations Environment Assembly, in Nairobi, Kenya;
– First Conference of Parties to the Minamata Convention, in Geneva, Swiss Confederation;
– Eighth World Water Forum, in Brasilia, Brazil;
– Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, in New Delhi, India; and
– Sixth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility, in Da Nang, Vietnam.
We are resolved to continue to contribute to the global efforts to eliminate one of earth’s most dire threats and to pursue international cooperation to protect our environment.
The ‘green’ state will expand the protected areas system by an additional two million hectares. We have committed the Konashen Protected Area of almost 7,000 km, to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy – a network of forest conservation projects.
The ‘green’ state will harness biomass, hydro-, solar- and wind sources of energy. Agricultural waste will be converted into biomass energy. Hydroelectric stations will tap energy from rapids, rivers and waterfalls; wind farms will generate energy along our extensive coastline and in other places.
Solar farms will be established in our savannahs and the hinterland to exploit the advantages of our high levels of sunlight irradiation. Every government building, eventually, will be retrofitted to fulfil its energy needs from renewable energy.
Our coalition Government has conceptualised the visionary Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) – the roadmap to becoming a ‘green’ state. The GSDS is part of the means to develop a more resilient economy.
It will help to boost production, enhance food security, promote value-added manufacturing, graduate Guyana towards becoming a digital nation through the use of ICT and to develop ‘green’ sectors such as transportation and renewable energy generation.
The ‘green’ state will improve sanitation and safety. It will protect our land and rivers by ending the reckless disposal of waste and eliminate the use of mercury and single-use plastics.
Gentler Guyana
Our coalition Government is building a Public Education System that is suited to the 21st century. Our educational policy will emphasise science, technology, engineering and mathematics increasingly but will not neglect the liberal arts. The pace of technological change demands the training of future generations of students and the retraining workers to be better equipped for the economy of the future.
The Public Education Transport Service (PETS) (known popularly as the 3 Bs Initiative) was born out of the recognition that many parents found it costly to send their children to school. Our coalition Government has prioritised educational access, attendance and achievement. The changes, though incremental, are measurable.
PETS has had an impact on school attendance and household savings. The Service has distributed 1,111 bicycles, 27 buses and 9 boats. PETS is saving parents money; in some cases, the savings can be as high as $48,000 per month per student – money which can now be funnelled into improving the household.
The Regional Public Broadcasting Service (RPBS) has taken public communication to a higher level through a series of radio stations in four new regional capital towns – Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma and Mahdia – and other satellites. Remote, rural and hinterland communities, for the first time, can now listen to regular, reliable news reports from their regional capitals and elsewhere in the country.
Our coalition Government, through the work of the Ministry of Social Cohesion, is pursuing policies to create a more cohesive nation. We aim at the eradication of poverty and the elimination of inequality and the disparities in income between the coastland and the hinterland and between rural and urban areas.
Our coalition Government is promoting respect for each other’s culture and for our diversity by the recognition of national ‘arrival’ days, for the first time. We now observe Chinese Arrival Day, Indian Arrival Day and Portuguese Arrival Day. The observance of other historic events that are of significance in our multi-cultural society enriches our lives and embellishes our cultural calendar.
A gentler Guyana is emerging. Women attorneys in the legal profession have been appointed Senior Counsel for the first time, and the number of women national awardees exceeded those of men, also for the first time.
Women contributed to building our country and our Party. We believe in gender equality. The PNC led the way forward by presenting the State Paper on Equality for Women to the National Assembly on 15th January 1976. It aimed, among other things, at:
…securing equality of treatment by employers of men and women workers as regards terms and conditions of service and generally for the purpose of making sex discrimination unlawful in employment, recruitment, training, education and the provision of housing, goods, services and facilities to the public.
The State Paper ushered in several major changes in Guyana’s laws, two of the most important being the Equal Rights Act (ERA) and the Prevention of Discrimination Act (PDA), which sought to make discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, or status a criminal offence.
We are mainstreaming youth development. We have promulgated a National Youth Policy which has been adopted by the National Assembly. The ‘Policy’ aims at accelerating youth involvement in decision-making, improving their social emotional and cultural skills and producing an enterprising and educated youth workforce.
Our coalition Government has re-invigorated the system of local democracy. We have ended the previous regime’s odious practice of removing elected municipalities and installing the ignominious ‘interim management committees.’
Local government elections were held on 18th March 2016, less than a year after we entered office and after an intermission of almost twenty-two years since the last elections were held on 8th August 1994. These elections have empowered our citizens, energised our communities and eliminated one of the sources of strife and stagnation.
We convened a National Conference of Local Democratic Organs. It has become a vehicle to promote greater communication and meaningful cooperation between the regional democratic administrations, the municipalities, the neighbourhood democratic councils and Central Government.
We established four new towns – at Bartica, Mabaruma, Mahdia and Lethem. We announced a policy of regional development aimed at ensuring that every region will be led by a capital town to drive the delivery of public services and to promote economic growth. The progress being made by towns under democratically-elected municipal councils has been measurable.
Villages are central to local government. It was with this consciousness that, as leader of the Opposition, I moved a motion in the 10th Parliament calling for 7th November to be designated ‘National Day of Villages.’ The motion was approved by the National Assembly but the previous regime never implemented it. It was as President, in 2015, that I officially declared a ‘National Day of Villages.’
The nation is haunted, still, by the ghosts of the dead who perished in the carnage and rampage of criminal violence of the deadly ‘Troubles.’ The nation’s soul has been scarred by the criminality and atrocities of that period.
Our coalition Government is bringing reconciliation to the nation and comfort to wounded families. It is pursuing truth and justice for the victims of the criminal violence perpetrated during the ‘Troubles’, including the bloody massacres – at Agricola, Bagotstown-Eccles, Black Bush Polder, Bourda, Buxton-Friendship, Kitty, La Bonne Intention, Lamaha Gardens, Lindo Creek, Lusignan, Prashad Nagar and elsewhere.
Our coalition Government is reshaping public administration to serve citizens through the delivery of improved public services. We shall enhance the delivery of services in the fields of business, citizenship, culture, the economy, the environment, public education, public health, public information, public infrastructure, public security, public telecommunications, natural resource management, social cohesion and sport.
The Department of Housing is redressing the discrimination and disenfranchisement of past house-lot allocations. It is prioritizing housing for low-income workers. It is providing a range of housing options for those seeking to own their own homes. 3,695 house lots and 195 housing units have been allocated since June 2015.
The Ministry of Business is making the country into a magnet for investment. The recent launch of the American Chambers of Commerce of Guyana is a sign of the growing interest in our country as a prime investment and business destination. The Ministry is stimulating the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises and promoting self-employment even as it seeks larger investments.
The Ministry of Public Health is addressing the well-being of our citizens. It is driving a national health policy, predicated on providing universal access to public health, promoting universal primary health care and emphasising preventive care. The Ministry is improving access to inclusive, reliable and quality health services.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure is preparing Guyana for a new wave of infrastructural development. The development of the Linden-Lethem roadway and the erection of a new modern bridge across the Demerara River and a bridge across the Essequibo River are all under active consideration.
The Ministry of Public Telecommunications is bringing internet connectivity to more communities, schools and public buildings. We are moving towards becoming a digital state with the priority on the use ICT to improve communications, particularly for hinterland communities.
The Ministry of Natural Resources is working to align the extractive sectors along a ‘green’ trajectory of development. The emphasis on ‘green’ development need not de-emphasise the extractive sector. The Ministry is pursuing polices to encourage adding value to extractive production and to enhance greater environmental security in the natural resources sector.
The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs is leading the national effort to reduce economic and social disparities between the coastland and hinterland and to create a more equal society. A ten-point plan has been promulgated to promote identity, inclusivity and prosperity for the indigenous peoples.
A call has been made for the development of village improvement plans to drive the development of more than 200 indigenous communities. The government is working with the National Toshaos’ Council to enhance the development of these villages.
Our coalition Government, mindful of the need to improve human safety, started the reformation and retooling of the security sector. A United Kingdom-funded security sector Memorandum of Understanding has been negotiated and is being implemented with direct oversight from the highest office in the state – the Ministry of the Presidency.
Our coalition Government is making Guyana safe from within and from external security threats. A ‘frontline villages’ policy has been unveiled to ensure the safety of residents and the development of frontier communities that are guardians of our territorial integrity and protectors of our national patrimony.
External relations
Guyana, throughout its 52 years of Independence, suffered from the Venezuelan claim to its territory. This threat robbed citizens of the prospect of a safe life in secure communities. It scared investors. It scuttled development projects.
Our coalition Government has been reasserting, forcefully, respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Guyana, in the face of provocation, launched sustained engagements aimed at garnering international support for respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
We placed the long-standing controversy with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela before the Secretary General of the United Nations where it belongs. We asked him to choose a pacific means of settlement under the Agreement to resolve the controversy over the frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana of the 17th February 1966, commonly known as the Geneva Agreement of 1966. We sought a juridical settlement for the controversy.
Our Government, owing to these efforts, sought to bring this controversy to a peaceful and legal end. The case has been referred, formally, to the International Court of Justice. It has been one of our greatest diplomatic achievements.
We are confident. We anticipate a ruling which will reaffirm the Award regarding the Boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela of 1899 and reassert our contention that there is no validity in the Venezuelan claim to our territory.
The internal situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has had an impact on the internal situation in Guyana. Scores of destitute refugees have been entering the country, mainly through the Barima-Waini Region (No. 1).
We had established a Department of Citizenship under my direct authority in the Ministry of the Presidency on our entry into office in May 2015. This Department has been ensuring that internationally accepted best practices are adopted to humanely manage the influx of refugees. The foresight in establishing this Department has now become evident.
The Department has also extended the reach, quality and administration of birth, marriage and death registration and passport and immigration services. Our citizenship policy is to ensure that every Guyanese citizen can be accounted for from birth to death, as far as humanly possible.
Our coalition Government has re-energized our external relations. Foreign policy is the basis for pursuing our national interest in the international community. It has evinced support for our security and national development.
We value our close ties with friendly states, including those within the Caribbean Community and the Federative Republic of Brazil whose support has been pivotal to ensuring respect for our nation’s security.
My state visits to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the Republic of Chile and the Federative Republic of Brazil, and my meetings with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the President of the Swiss Federation, President of the Republic of Suriname and the Prime Minister of the Republic of India and several other Heads of State and Government – in the margins of international meetings of the Caribbean Community, Commonwealth and the United Nations – have enhanced Guyana’s standing in the world.
Guyana has strengthened its relations with the wider world, including in Asia. We have joined the International Solar Alliance. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with the People’s Republic of China, within the framework of China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. We look forward to deepening cooperation with both the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China.
Our coalition Government is proud of its record of achievements. It has brought about measurable and substantive change. It has made itself into an indispensable vehicle for continued national transformation.
Common future
The PNCR has performed well. It is the natural, national leader. It is the party of and for the future. The PNCR is:
– giving effect to the Constitutional principle of inclusionary democracy and helping to transform the political culture and the national economy by emphasizing the need to reduce inequality;
– dismantling the authoritarian apparatus of managing municipalities and empowering local communities;
– managing economic transformation prudently by eradicating poverty, eliminating inequality and promoting economic independence;
– establishing the mechanism to ensure that the incipient petroleum sector is managed in accordance with the international best principles; and
– ensuring that the most transformative development in our country’s economic history becomes an opportunity to ensure that its revenues provide a sustainable and prosperous future for all.
Everyone wins with the PNCR – a party which represents all segments and strata of society. The PNCR will continue to guide the government to pursue policies and plans which will ensure that everyone will benefit from economic and social development.
The PNCR, in government, has been a force of good in improving people’s quality of life. This Congress re-affirms that the PNCR is a party of the people, for all of the people. The PNCR will:
– emerge stronger in the 2018 local government elections to be in a better position to protect local democracy, to empower citizens and to revitalize local communities;
– combine with its partners in a ‘coalition for good’ to compete in the 2020 general and regional elections so that the goal of the ‘good life’ for all can be realized, collectively;
– continue to lay the foundation for future generations to be the beneficiaries of a secure, safe, strong, stable and prosperous country.
Guyana’s children deserve to grow up in a country in which the ‘good life’ is assured.
Guyanese deserve a Party that ensures the protection of the law, safety from criminal violence, a healthy environment and a good standard of living.
Guyana is a country of a thousand opportunities for prosperity and happiness.
This is the party! This is the country. This is the time!