For too long, Guyanese have been saddled with a regime that has abandoned even the pretense of good, accountable governance. Unfortunately – for many Guyanese – the very concept of government accountability is alien and unknown. The APNU+AFC intend to do no less than change Guyana’s political culture; citizens should have an expectation of accountability from their servant-leaders. Also, for too many years citizens have expressed concern about which party will win elections and “rule the country.” The partnership wants to change this erroneous mindset: when the coalition is elected by the people, government will no longer “rule the country,” instead, government’s role will be to serve the interests of Guyanese in an accountable manner. As many citizens of our beautiful country may be unfamiliar with those noble concepts, the partnership takes this opportunity to outline our vision, intention and goals, and how we intend to implement them.
It is our firm belief that good governance is the only foundation upon which a peaceful, prosperous, safe, unified and dignified society can be built. Government itself – central, regional and local – is only one aspect of the bodies through which good governance can be put into practice. The others include Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), religious groups, a free and independent media, political parties, youth groups and other civil society organisations. As the coalition intends to make good governance a reality, the new government will work to strengthen those organisations and groups, instead of suppressing, emasculating and silencing them, as the