PPP/C bets on sustainability and stability, promises grounded in development framework – GS Jagdeo

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is presenting a campaign platform centred on sustainable development, economic discipline, and long-term planning.

At a press briefing on Thursday at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo unveiled key elements of the party’s forthcoming 2025–2030 manifesto.

The agenda, he said, is rooted in public consultations and guided by the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), a policy framework that leverages Guyana’s rainforest wealth to fund climate-resilient and inclusive growth.

“We listened, and we made sure that people’s biggest concerns are reflected in our plans for the next five years,” Jagdeo told reporters.

Jagdeo, a former president who initiated the LCDS in 2009, emphasised that the party’s record speaks for itself, pointing to achievements in employment, infrastructure, education, and healthcare since the PPP/C returned to power in 2020.

“Today we hear very little complaint about jobs and roads,” Jagdeo said, citing a minimum of 60,000 jobs added during the party’s current term.

“They [the public] are appreciative of what we’ve done in healthcare, in education,” according to the general secretary.

Still, he acknowledged areas requiring further attention — including safer communities, better sanitation, and expanded recreational spaces. He vowed that the new manifesto would avoid overpromising and instead focus on “deliverable goals.”

“We are not going to make unsustainable promises,” he said before he stated, “If we say we are going to get something done, we will get it done.”

Jagdeo also sought to frame the PPP/C as the only party with a proven track record of macroeconomic management — referencing the transformation of Guyana’s economy since the early 1990s, when, he said, debt was nine times the size of the national economy.

With the general and regional elections set for September 1, the PPP/C is making an early pitch to voters focused on governance, not grandstanding. Jagdeo accused the opposition of “sloganeering” and offering “unsustainable promises.”

“What separates us from the others is vision,” he said.

“We’ve always had one — and we’ve delivered,” according to VP Jagdeo.