New Political Party promises to never join coalition with APNU+AFC or PPPC

With elections expected to be called within the next three months, a new political party has emerged and is hoping to gain some attention that could push it as the new third force in Guyanese politics.

Former PPP Executive Member, Ralph Ramkarran has joined forces with political scientist and former PPP Housing Minister, Dr. Henry Jeffrey, businessman Terrence Campbell and Attorney Timothy Jonas, to form the new party, A New And United Guyana (ANAUG).

In a joint statement, the four men said they are four Guyanese concerned citizens who have been engaged in discussions on what they can do, to assist in resolving the difficult problems of moving Guyana forward in harmony and for the benefit of all our people.

“With the experience of two unstable governments, the continuation of the internecine discord reflective of ethno-political disputes and need for a higher degree of political unity to deal with the enormous and urgent problems of devising systems and structures to cope with and manage the new petroleum industry, we believe that the urgent necessity to reform governance mechanisms to reflect inclusive governance is self-evident and is the most urgent issue now facing the Guyanese people”,the statement said.

Constitutional reform is expected to be a key issue for the new party. They have expressed their disappointment with the coalition government not being able to get constitutional reform going.

“We were all very impressed with the APNU+AFC manifesto promise in 2015 to implement reforms to our Constitution that would allow separate presidential elections, the prime minister coming from the party obtaining the second highest votes, and each party securing 15 percent or more votes to have a share in the Government”, however, they said by the time they started their discussions of forming a new party, “it had become clear that the Government had no intention of honouring its election promise of constitutional reform. As a result of this failure, politics as usual has continued”.

The new party has as its primary and immediate objective, to promote constitutional reform leading to inclusive governance.

“We also have a full menu of proposals to deal with all aspects of governance and have been working on those to be published at an appropriate time. We will announce those proposals and seek the support of the Guyanese people for them in the election campaign. We will implement them if the Guyanese people elect us to office”, the statement said.

While admitting that they are conscious of the history of third parties in Guyana, they would like to assure the nation that, if the party does not secure a majority or plurality of votes at the elections, “under no circumstance will we ever join in a coalition with either of the major parties to sustain it in office or for ourselves to gain political office or positions”.

“We are not in this for political or financial gain or office. We are in it for bringing about the unity of the Guyanese people by ensuring that all Guyanese, regardless of ethnicity, and all young people, would feel secure in the expectation that their interests and welfare will be protected”, the new party statement said.

The Founders of A New And United Guyana are convinced that with the announcement of the party’s birth, there will now be a large influx of supporters joining up with them to move the country forward.