Underlining that it does not expect to win the 2020 general elections, ANUG yesterday said its capturing of a small number of seats at the March 2nd elections would help to force the two major parties to work together and it also proposed a rotating presidency and that ministers of government not be Members of Parliament.
With former House Speaker Ralph Ramkarran as its presidential candidate, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) has stressed that the reality of ethnic voting means that a new system of governance is required.
Unveiling its manifesto at the Georgetown Cricket Club, ANUG said its consensual outlook means that its positions on national issues are not cast in stone.
In terms of consensual democracy, ANUG is proposing:
– A presidency of 5 persons (2 PPP/C, 2 APNU+AFC, 1 from the largest of the smaller parties. At a minimum 2 women and 2 youths) who will constitute the cabinet and rotate as the president. It cited Switzerland as a good example.
A strict separation of powers: ministers will not be members of the Legislature. It adverted to the USA as a good example of this.
A proportional parliamentary representation system based the maximum direct constituency representation.
Radical devolution: regions and local authorities given greater autonomy and taxing rights.
Launched on January 18 last year with attorney Timothy Jonas and former PPP/C minister Henry Jeffrey as key members, ANUG’s manifesto says its vision is to win enough seats in the National Assembly to prevent a majority by Government in Parliament and to force the two major ethnic political parties to formally or informally work with each other.
It says it intends to remain an independent political party not holding any Government or related office until after a consensual democratic regime has been constitutionally achieved.
It said that if it only won enough seats in Parliament to hold a balance then the first order of business would be constitutional reform to introduce a constitutional system of shared governance.
It warned again that if the governing party failed to implement constitutional reform “ANUG’s swing vote will enable the Opposition to return to the electorate by new elections”.
ANUG, which has entered a historic list joining with two smaller parties for the computation of seats at the elections, says the high level of distrust between the ethnic groups influence recruitment, awarding of contracts, etc.
“ANUG’s approach is to ensure that everyone is assured of their interests being represented and their representatives being empowered to act in their interest even if they are in opposition. The winner takes all system is not effective; it never has been. It results in retarded social, economic and political development. In the interest of development ANUG wants all political leaders to work together in the interest of the electorate”, it said.
Health
Under the rubric health, ANUG argued that in 2015 Barbados spent about US$1,160 per capita on health care while the Guyana Government spent about US$184 per capita. The per capita income in Guyana and Barbados in 2015 was US$4,119 and US$16,129 respectively. Barbados’ per capita income was only about 4 times larger than Guyana yet it was spending 6 times more than Guyana on health care.
ANUG said that maternal mortality in Guyana was 229 per 10,000 in 2015 while the rate in Barbados was 27.
“The public health system in Guyana needs to be scientifically organised and managed and public expenditure increased if the above dire conditions are to be improved. High maternal mortality rates are just one aspect of the failings of the public health system which desperately requires effective management to achieve the successes of comparable institutions of regional neighbours”, the party said.
If it wins seats, ANUG says it will:
► Improve administration and efficiency of health management facilities;
► Reform health management away from micro-management: setting standards, goals,targets, and monitoring mechanisms;
► Use data collection to inform strategic allocation of funds in according to areas of greatest Priority;
► Review health financing with a view to increasing it in conformity with international Standards;
► Strengthen and make more autonomous the regional health system.
Economy
Declaring that it supports a social contract encompassing the private sector, labour unions and civil society, ANUG said that it believes that a system of shared governance where all ethnopolitical groups are represented in decision-making will immediately erase the perception and reality of resource allocation and contract awards based on family, friends and political loyalty.
It said that the macro economic framework: inflation levels, rates of interest, debt management, foreign reserves, foreign exchange rate, etc will be strictly managed via transparent policies.
It pledged a series of steps including:
► Improving and providing relevant incentives and infrastructure for the various sectors of the economy, e.g. roads, air and sea transportation, harbours, bridges, electricity.
► Improving and tapering the education sector to the present and future needs of the economy.
► Reinvigorating the industrial relations sector with the revamping of the Labour Ministry for creation of a simple and understandable system of rules for safety, reliability, security and efficiency.
► Ending the isolation of hinterland communities by the provision of modern inexpensive transportation and communication.
► Creating new and enhancing the existing industrial sites and free economic zones.
► Establish an investment bank to provide loans to local businesses and entrepreneurs.
► Universalize the availability of inexpensive high-end ICT technology in both the domestic, public and business sectors Security
On the security front, the ANUG manifesto noted that in a 2017 IDB report it was stated that 70% of firms utilise contracted security services with 8.7% of annual sales being spent on security-related expenses, 33% have reported being victims of a crime, 33% reported loss of 3.7% in annual sales due to crime. ANUG said that these figures are above the regional and global averages, and directly divert resources which could otherwise be used to develop the business.
It recommended:
► Adequate staffing of the entire Guyana Police Force and the criminal justice system.
► Training and measurement of effectiveness of training which target primarily crime prevention and rehabilitation of offenders.
► Measuring and managing efficiencies response time, turnaround on closure of matters at every stage from the time a report is made at a police station to the time for adjudication, etc.
Equally importantly, ANUG said that it must be recognized that crime is the natural corollary to lack of education and unemployment.
“By failing to provide quality education to our children, and failing to foster a strong investment climate for industrial and commercial growth, we are guilty of collusion in the upsurge in crime”, the party said.
