Seeking re-election after almost five years in office, the governing APNU+AFC yesterday presented its 2020 elections manifesto, which President David Granger called a “contract” with the people for the next five years and beyond.
“We have been in government and have brought our experience to bear on crafting this manifesto. We will do what we promise to do. We will perform. We are not trying to bamboozle the electorate. We are capable of delivering everything in this document,” Granger stressed, while adding that the coalition knows how its plans will be financed.
“It is not a campaign manifesto, it is a contract. An agreement with the people of Guyana for the next five years and beyond; what I call the decade of development,” he stressed at a media launch held at the coalition’s Lamaha Street campaign headquarters.
The 2020 manifesto is still ambitious, he explained, but also agreeable, attainable and affordable.
With the coalition receiving some criticism for its failure to deliver on some of the major promises made in its last manifesto, which had included a 100-days plan, it appeared to be a lot more measured in its latest presentation to Guyanese voters.
According to the manifesto, the ‘Decade of Development: 2020-2029’ will see an APNU+AFC government pursuing developmental projects in nine programmatic areas including energy, security and technology.
While Granger has said that Guyana will “year after year…see how this manifesto unfolds in providing services to the people of this country,” the coalition has attached no timeline to any of its promises and instead it was clear that it won’t “overpromise.”
Granger said it has made plans for the judicious and prudent use of revenue to ensure that everything it promises will be delivered.
He cautioned that persons should not look to the manifesto for projects specific to their community but rather pay attention to sectorial promises across the nine identified sectors as the manifesto is a realistic general strategy for development.
As part of its pre-election promises in 2015, the newly minted coalition had made 21 promises to the nation and committed to fulfilling these promises within 100 days of assuming office.
An examination of these promises shows that while a significant number were achieved they were not achieved in 100 days and in fact for some it took four years.
Constitutional reform, which in 2015 was a flagship promise, has made a return to the 2020 manifesto. It is the first promise under the incumbent’s “governance” programme.
The APNU+AFC is promising to continue the work of the Constitutional Reform Consultative Commission, continue the allocation of funding for countrywide community consultations and commit to contributing to a constitution which reflects the will of the wider society country-wide.
These undertakings stand as a stark contrast to the 2015 promise of reduced presidential powers.
In 2015, the coalition promised that within three months of taking office, an APNU+AFC government would appoint a commission to amend the Constitution with the full participation of the people.
“The new Constitution will put the necessary checks and balances in place to consolidate our ethos of liberal democracy. Freedom of speech, reduction of the power of the President and the Bill of Rights will be enshrined in the document,” the 2015 document stated.
Responding to question at the launch, Granger stressed that constitutional reform is a process which has been ongoing for 20 years. “It is an extremely complex process. We have been grappling with it and intend to bring conclusion in the next 10 years,” he said.
Another promise made in 2015 was to government workers, who were promised a significant increase in salaries. This promise has over the last four years been realised but not before key government officials granted themselves a 50% increase in their own salaries.
As part of the larger 2015 manifesto the party also promised to reduce the tax burden and lower the ratio of central government revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It promised a comprehensive review of the taxation system and policies as well as a phased increase in the income tax threshold to $100,000 and a reduction of the 16% Value Added Tax (VAT). VAT has been reduced to 14%.
According to Prime Ministerial Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan, government has succeeded in reducing the tax burden on the people.
“We have reduced Corporate Tax on businesses with amnesty on arrears,” he writes in a foreword to the manifesto.
In its 2020 manifesto, the coalition is promising a modern and business-friendly tax regime. It has expressed the intention to reconvene the Tax Reform Commission to receive and consider submissions from stakeholders and to make recommendations to create a tax policy which will be fair to all taxpayers; and continue to grant tax relief to individual taxpayers countrywide.
In 2015 under the theme, the coalition promised accountability and transparency.
Specifically, it promised to ensure transparency and accountability by granting access to citizens to all aspects of the government’s transactions and activities.
This promise was never realised impacting negatively on public trust and on Guyana’s earning capacity according to a report from international NGO Global Witness.
Within a year of assuming office the APNU+AFC government signed a revised Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil and its partners, the details of which remained secret for over a year.
Even after the PSA was released, the details surrounding its negotiation, including the fact that Guyana received an US$18 million signing bonus, remained a secret.
The bonus was not acknowledged until after the publication in Stabroek News and Guyana Times of a letter of September 20, 2016 from the Ministry of Finance to the Bank of Guyana (BoG) seeking the setting up of an account for the funds.
Even then in December 2017, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman declined to disclose the quantum received.
He merely told the National Assembly, during his budget debate presentation that the bonus was intended to be used for legal fees pertaining to the preservation of Guyana’s territorial integrity.
It was Exxon which finally admitted to the amount it had paid into a Bank of Guyana account.
Earlier this month, Global Witness, stated in a report, Signed Away: How Exxon’s exploitative deal deprived Guyana of up to US$55 Billion, that government had ignored expert advice and gave in to aggressive negotiation tactics from the oil company to the detriment of the country’s best interest.
Government has refuted this report.
As it campaigns for a second term, the APNU+AFC is once again promising transparency, financial integrity and accountability within Government.
According to the 2020 manifesto, as part of the creation of a transparent public sector government will publish public documents on the websites of the relevant Ministries, agencies and departments; provide to the public, quarterly progress reports of every ministry, department, agency and authority; and review and implement the Access to Information Act.
