A strong stance against corruption, full respect for the separation of powers and more public ownership rather than privatisation are key aspects of the governance section of the manifesto released last Thursday by the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP).
The 62-page document, the first from any of the parties planning to contest the upcoming general elections, saw a greater role for public ownership.
“Private interests have ruled the roost for far too long. The result is a society scarred by inequalities of power and wealth, and a planet plundered of resources and damaged by pollution. Those elites with power and wealth have done very well; everywhere else there is agony. Politics has fragmented communities, public institutions have weakened, people’s lives are dominated by insecurity, and prejudice is rife. We live in a price-tag society – and if you can’t pay the price, too bad. In racially divided consumer societies like ours, the common good has been forgotten. So much government has been put out to tender, and corrupted. The reins have been handed over to the unfettered market and corporate interests. Things that used to be done by public agencies have been outsourced.
We do not want a world in which privatisation is the solution for everything? Privatisation has only spurred private gain rather than the common good? It’s public ownership and democratic control that lead to fairer services and better outcomes. The market, where greed is good, makes us impatient with the suffering of others, tolerant of inequality, prone to prejudice, suspicious of difference”, the manifesto said.
Headed by former Toshao of Pakuri, Lenox Shuman, the manifesto emphasized the importance of the separation of powers which has become a matter talked about following the recent motion of no confidence against the government.
Referring to the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, the LJP manifesto said that each of the branches has the power to limit or check the other two and this creates a balance between the three.
“…this principle induces that the ambitions of one branch prevent that one of the other branches becomes supreme, and thus be eternally confronting each other and in that process leaving the people free from government abuses. Checks and Balances are designed to maintain the system of separation of powers keeping each branch in its place. This is based on the idea that it is not enough to separate the powers and guarantee their independence but to give the various branches the constitutional means to defend their own legitimate powers from the encroachments of the other branches. They guarantee that the powers of the state have the same weight (co-equal), that is, to be balanced, so that they can limit each other, avoiding the abuse of state power.
The LJP Governance will adhere to three areas: uphold the rule of law; effective governance for the common good, and democracy and political participation”, the manifesto stated.
The LJP manifesto took aim at corruption.
It contended that corruption has disastrous impacts on development when funds that should be devoted to schools and other vital public services are instead diverted into the hands of criminals or dishonest officials. It stated that lawmakers cannot and must not be lawbreakers and discipline and accountability must start at the top.
If elected, it pledged the following urgent steps:
• At the First Sitting of Parliament, table and mandate the Integrity Commission’s requirement for all parliamentarians to declare their assets in order to fight corruption, protect whistleblowers and enable a new period of transparency and accountability in the governance of national affairs; and immediately after the Election, require Ministers to declare their assets as well.
• Introduce election campaign finance reform.
• Establish an Anti-Corruption Unit to probe incidents of corruption and make recommendations for prosecution or other action.
The LJP also pledged fairness and transparency in governance.
It promised the following steps:
• Genuinely enforcing the Freedom of Information Act to release to the public all information not restricted on the grounds of national security, or patented commercial sensitivity.
• Creating a Committee on Social Justice as part of the Social Partnership, which will be widened to include Civil Society and the religious bodies.
• Presenting legislation to create a more equitable and fairer environment for rental properties that protects both landlords and tenants.
• Pursuing the decriminalisation of vending while taking into account and balancing the interests of those who want to earn a living and support their families, as well as the interests of competing store and property owners.
• Streamlining immigration processes to fast track the applications of those who have lived in Guyana most of their lives, but have no legal status.
Shuman, a Guyanese with dual citizenship, has said that he is renouncing his Canadian citizenship to contest the general elections.
