Alliance For Change (AFC) presidential candidate and Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said his party will institute ethnic impact audits to ensure that all Guyanese benefit equally from the projects and plans emanating from an AFC government.
He made the comment at the launch of the party’s election campaign last evening at the Ocean View Convention Centre where about 200 persons had gathered for the event.
“The Alliance For Change recognises that each [and] every citizen no matter his or her background has the right to access opportunities and make an important contribution to nation building. We are going to conduct ethnic impact audits of all important cabinet decisions and all new major programmes within government departments.”
According to Ramjattan these audits are important because the perception of marginalisation is sometimes even more dangerous than the reality with unwanted situations arising.
“But more than that, when these ethnic audits would have been done … we’re going to act on them, not put them up on some shelf like I know very many PPP ministers do; that is fundamental for this movement in relation to our quest for racial harmony.”
The AFC chairman said that as president he would work for all Guyanese to create jobs, fight crime, reform the tax system, wipe out corruption and restore Guyana to its rightful place in the Caribbean and the Americas.
“Our people have witnessed special interest groups taking advantage of the masses since Independence, from the days of the Kabaka with his House of Israel posse we got now the champion and he Pradoville posse,” Ramjattan declared.
He added that an AFC government would upturn the incumbent administration’s model of development with more money going to the workers and front-ending incentives to businesses.
“For the economy to get better workers must be paid better, not the Jagdeo principle that when the economy gets better then we gonna pay the workers better. Let’s today pay the workers better and we gonna have a better economy,” he said.
However, Ramjattan said that for the AFC to make that Guyana a reality they needed the help of the people for a difficult journey.
He also urged the party supporters to take the AFC’s message out to the masses.
“At nine-days, at wake houses, at weddings, wheresoever, it is vital that you carry the message, cocktail circuits, on the streets … even in the markets that are gonna be demolished by Mr [Robeson] Benn, you carry our message,” he exhorted.
Prior to Ramjattan, the party’s prime ministerial candidate Sheila Holder told the gathering that the AFC was just the vehicle for change and it was within the voters’ powers to break with the past and rekindle hope.
“However from now to election day you have to do the right thing, you have to spread the message, you have to quietly educate your neighbours and friends about the programmes, about the policies and the vision of the Alliance For Change and most importantly on election day you have to make the right turn by putting your ‘x’ next to the key,” she added.
Meanwhile, party leader Raphael Trotman stated the old adage about the early bird catching the worm in putting forward the reason why the AFC chose to officially launch its campaign at this time.
“In fact, we cannot wait any longer; we are impatient because we know what destiny lies ahead,” he said. Trotman said the launch was actually the second phase of their campaign with the first being quiet meetings with Guyanese at home and abroad. Yesterday’s event, he added, heralded the “open engagement” with the populace.
According to the leader, the AFC’s Action Plan is “the most modern plan for Guyana’s transformation and development.” However, he added that it was a work in progress and the party would be inviting the people’s feedback on what they want in that plan.
“In the weeks ahead we intend to engage you, to challenge you … as we seek to produce a document by the date of election, not a manifesto but rather the very blueprint of government when we take office,” he stated. Trotman also reiterated the party’s intention to seek alliances with like-minded individuals stating that it was never intended as a cloister of elites.
“In the weeks ahead I propose to become more actively involved in pursuing the precise mandate of the National Conference, to probe to assess, to weigh and to scrutinise others from near and afar to see whether we can put aside our personal fears, our differences, our ambitions … and to be embracing to build the best team for Guyana’s next government.”
That search, he said, will encapsulate communities, civil society and other parties.
Already there are a number of former ROAR members in the AFC such as Tarron Khemraj, the architect of the party’s economic plans, campaign consultant Saludeen Nasrudeen and public relations and research officer Amar Panday. On the decision to join the AFC Panday told Stabroek News that ROAR leader Ravi Dev has decided to withdraw from active politics thereby rendering the group dormant. He added that those members of the group still with a “political appetite” decided to join the AFC since they stood for “complementing principles.”
