When the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) tied the knot with the Alliance For Change (AFC), most were under the impression that the union would usher a new type of governance; one characterized by transparency and accountability. More significantly, it was hoped that the AFC would serve as the check and balance on the APNU.
But, during its almost five years in office, the coalition has been a disappointment in the context of how it was expected to work. So said Head of Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), Dr. Troy Thomas.
During an exclusive interview with Guyana Standard today, Dr. Thomas said, “I don’t think the coalition worked out the way we expected, which was, you would have some sort of check on the big ones, you would see a push for certain things…”
He continued, “But what you saw is that they became one party. We saw issues like Constitutional Reform and the revamping of the Campaign Financing Legislation not being addressed even though the coalition made a commitment in this regard. Then you saw the AFC making excuses for this and that was disappointing.”
Dr. Thomas said that the same attitude from the AFC was also seen when the APNU faction faced numerous corruption allegations and scandals.
In light of the foregoing, the TIGI Head said that the emergence of new political parties such as the Citizenship Initiative is certainly welcomed as they provide alternative perspectives to the people.
In the interest of promoting voting based on policy positions, Dr. Thomas said that TIGI would be more than happy to facilitate debates between all presidential candidates so that the citizens can make informed choices when they head to the polls on March 2.
