Even after citing the “distrust of third parties resulting from the AFC’s implosion”, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) today indicated that it is confident of winning the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
The party released a statement delivered at a press conference it hosted today.
The statement read, “We believe that we have already made an impact having explained our fundamental objectives. We seek to ensure unified governance through structural changes in our government system by way of Constitutional Reform. We aim to have a presidential system and government in which all the major political parties will serve. We advocate for the complete separation of powers between the executive and legislature and a constituency system with a mechanism for proportionality. The public appreciates our commitment not to join any other political party to assist that party to gain political office or for ourselves to gain such office. This distinguishes us from any third party in the past. The decision yesterday by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) restores and uphold constitutionality in Guyana.”
ANUG noted that the APNU+AFC Government has insisted that it had a right to be heard in court regarding the passage of the no-confidence motion.
“Now we hope that the final court having spoken, the government will swiftly adhere to the rule of law by agreeing to appoint a new chair of the [Guyana] Elections Commission from names provided by the leader of the opposition and dissolving the national assembly and fixing a date for elections. The consequential orders of the CCJ should ensure that those are the actions that should flow from its decision.”
The statement indicated that ANUG will contest the elections which are to be held following the decision of the CCJ.
“We will announce our presidential candidate in good time as well as our programme. Our manifesto is being prepared and is substantially complete. We are not a one issue party and will be presenting a full programme while identifying our core issues.”
Furthermore, ANUG noted that it has entered the political arena to win the elections. “We have confidence that the people of Guyana will see the wisdom of our programme. If we obtain a majority or plurality of the votes, we will invite the other parties to join in a national unity government and will immediately embark on constitutional reform to bring about the changes we advocate.”
However, the party noted that the reality of “our past history of ethnic voting does not escape us. If we are unable to persuade the Guyanese people to give us an absolute majority or plurality, we hope to obtain enough seats in the national assembly to ensure that neither party obtains an absolute majority. We are very confident that this is a real possibility. In the absence of a majority or plurality, but with a balance of power, we will negotiate our case for constitutional reform.
Both political parties have called for constitutional reform to implement programmes for shared governance or winner does not take all politics. When they win elections, both have reneged on their promises. ANUG is determined to end ethnopolitical dominance and to introduce unified governance for the benefit of all Guyana and the end of ethnopolitical dominance.”
