Disputing that he is a supporter of any of the parties in the governing APNU+AFC coalition, Change Guyana presidential candidate Robert Badal said that his party will not coalesce with either APNU+AFC or the PPP/C but has not ruled out joining with smaller parties.
“We will not be part of the two major political parties…because they don’t share the same values and they have not shown a track record of performance,” Badal, owner of Guyana Stockfeeds Limited and the Pegasus Hotel told Stabroek News yesterday in an interview.
“We would not be joining at all because I don’t think we share the same values and principles. As it relates to smaller parties, we will listen, have conversations with other parties to understand their values and their principles and if converged and we can work together … of course, we can do that,” he added.
Badal, whose Pegasus Hotel is in the midst of a major expansion, said that he could not say if soon after the launch of the party next week that members would be looking at entering talks with smaller parties given that “it is a dynamic process” and finding consensus “evolves over time”.
“So we can’t say what we will do right now, or tomorrow, or next week, it is an evolutionary process; as events out there unfold,” he said.
Since the December 21st 2018 No- Confidence Motion, which saw the fall of the APNU+AFC government and the naming of March 2nd 2020 as General Elections day, a number of smaller parties have signaled their intention to contest. They are A New and United Guyana (ANUG), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Federal United Party (Fed-Up), and more recently the Citizenship Initiative (CI).
Badal, who was chairman of Guyana Power and Light under the APNU+AFC government, said that he wants to set the record straight and make clear that he has no connections with either APNU or the AFC and that any thoughts that his party would join either side should be dismissed.
“If you can recall in 2015, I supported a change, after 23 years of successive PPP/C administrations. During that period, the leaders within the PPP had gotten so abusive, so intimidating, so frustrating for business that it was becoming untenable. The real businessmen in Guyana were marginalized and those that depended on government contracts were called the emerging private sector. So there was a little hatred for the business people that came through all the years, created value, exported, employed people and earned foreign exchange. The fact that one administration being in office for 23 years I found a bit distasteful. It was as if no one else had the talent to do it and so I supported the change,” he said.
“I was never a member of any political party. I was never a member of AFC, never a member of the coalition. I supported the change financially and advised them. After that change was effected I had no part or association with politics again,” he added.
Asked how long after the APNU+AFC got into office that he stopped giving support to them, Badal replied, “That is not a material question for this interview. I am not a member and I would answer no further questions on that”.
“I was never a supporter, never a member other than to launch an additional option for the people of Guyana in 2015,” he added.
He was quick to point out that while there is a perception that his support of the APNU+AFC allowed him preferential treatment and benefits, this was not the case.
“I received no benefits from the coalition, I have asked for none. I just want to make that clear because there is some association with me and the AFC. The leaders of the AFC can confirm this- that I have never been a member. I was a supporter for the change in 2015. I am not a supporter of AFC or coalition after then,” he stressed.
And because the bigger parties have not yet launched manifestos, the Change Guyana Party will hold off on releasing its because it does not want any piggybacking on its policies and developmental programmes.
“I haven’t seen much strategic thinking by the two parties so far. I don’t want them to say ‘hey look let us adjust our manifesto’. One party said theirs was to come out a month ago and it has not as yet. I think they are looking at each other. We are bold enough to come and say some of our policies. If the people are bold enough to get the message and to trust us and say this thing looks practical and is achievable, we can do this”, the businessman said.
Badal this week said that with the “decades of successful experience in building billion-dollar businesses” he and prime ministerial candidate, chartered accountant Nigel Hinds will be put to work every day, in every community, in every sector to produce an economy and society where families can live, work and enjoy.
“We promise a lean, clean, open, transparent and accountable Government. Our focus, and that of our team, will be on the economic development of Guyana and its people through harnessing the entrepreneurial energies of the private sector and the guardianship of civil society which would result in opportunities for all,” he added.
