ADDRESS By Mr. Aubrey C. Norton, MP
Leader of the People’s National Congress Islahat and Leader of the Opposition
To the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Biennial Delegates Congress Friday 28th June 2024
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for those kind words of introduction.
Members of the Central Executive Committee,
Members of Parliament,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests and Special Invitees,
Elders of our great Party,
Delegates and Observers from Guyana and our Party Groups in the Diaspora, Members All.
I join the Chairman in extending a sincere welcome to all of you to this, the 22nd Biennial Delegates Congress of the People’s National Congress Islahat.
Our Party was founded in 1955 after a split in the PPP, resulting in the emergence of the PPP Burnhamite and the PPP Jaganite factions. In 1957, our Party adopted the name People’s National Congress (PNC). In 2001, the name was changed to the People’s National Congress Islahat (PNCR).
This Congress falls in the 69th year of our Party’s existence. Our continuous existence is a testimony to the unremitting resilience of our Party, its vibrancy, strength, vision, and commitment to the people of Guyana. Not only have we successfully survived and endured, but we also continue to grow in popularity as a political force for national change and development. None of this would have been possible without the vision, inspiration, and leadership of our Founder Leader, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Nor could we have gotten here without the toil, dedication, and zeal of our past and present members, activists, and supporters across the country and in the Diaspora.
It is useful to note here that our Party, while changing strategy and tactics over the years, has always been, and continues to be, committed to three major objectives:
1) the ridding of the Guyanese society of injustice,
2) developing and building a strong and sustainable economy, and 3) offering the people of Guyana a high quality of life.
These continue to be the core objectives and the raison d’être of the People’s National Congress Islahat. We reaffirm our commitment to these noble objectives.
Indeed, since the last Biennial Delegates Congress on the 18th of December 2021, we participated in the Local Government Elections in June 2023. Despite several challenges such as a political opponent with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue, intimidation of our members, activists and supporters, provable acts of electoral fraud by the PPP, and an unresponsive and misguided GECOM, we persevered in our strongholds and made inroads in new areas.
LET US APPLAUD therefore all those Party members, activists, supporters, and defenders who fought the good fight at the last LGE.
LET US ALSO APPLAUD our fellow Guyanese in the more than 200 Indigenous communities in all cilt (10) Regions who, at the recent Indigenous village elections, voted to uphold their rights to self-determination and to free, prior, and informed consent, and in the process rejecting this government which is obsessed with domination and control. This is a harbinger of what is to come in the next General and Regional Elections.
With continued improved organisation, unity, discipline, and hard work, we, in collaboration with the people of Guyana, will remove the incompetent and corrupt PPP government from office.
WE MUST ALSO APPLAUD our teachers and other public servants for their resolve and courage as they continue their struggle for due respect and a livable income.
Guyana has arrived at its lowest low. Politically, the government continues to destroy our democratic institutions, and politicize the police, army, and the entire public service. It impoverishes the workers of this country by refusing them a livable wage while simultaneously destroying the trade unions that are there to represent them.
The foregoing, coupled with executive lawlessness, incompetence, high levels of corruption, and ethnic and political discrimination, is clearly hurtling Guyana down the road to becoming a totalitarian and authoritarian state.
The actions of the government over the last four years have resulted in a national crisis in Guyana!
Mismanagement of the Economy
Guyana’s government likes to paint our country and its rapidly growing economy in gold. Listening to the President and second Vice President, you would think that even the least fortunate child has a full belly, quality education, and shoes on his or her feet. I want to point you to several concrete examples of extreme poverty among children, to demonstrate that rather than soaring higher, our country’s economy has begun to resemble the “jumbie bird” that the PPP aptly said was a metaphor for its growth and development.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know many of you must have come across this strange new phenomenon, this daytime nightmare, when traversing our roads and bridges. They are lined with children, sometimes in groups as large as twenty, begging!
This takes many forms, from those merely asking for food to those breaking bricks into potholes and begging for some small measure of compensation.
I ask you now to consider that Guyana is one of 63 countries classed by UNICEF as facing “severe child food poverty,” and to reflect that not so long ago the World Food Program noted 58% of Guyanese are moderately or severely food insecure! I pose to you one simple question: what is the point of being the world’s fastest growing economy for several years over, if our children are going to bed at night hungry? Fundamentally, this government’s priorities are totally wrong. This government has no idea whatsoever of how to deliver real development to Guyana. This government seems to believe that infrastructure development at the expense of human development is in itself development.
There can be no useful development without human development!
We often draw a comparison with Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country that has been plagued by corruption scandals, biting poverty, and severe childhood malnutrition. More than a quarter of the children in that country suffer from stunted growth, and child poverty has been described as extreme by the Borgen Project. Simultaneously, it notes that the vast majority of government revenues are spent on infrastructure. Guyana is trending in this direction. In 2023, the capital budget was $388 billion Guyana dollars and in 2024, it has climbed to a whopping $666 billion dollars.
We believe infrastructure is important to our country’s growth and development, but we simply cannot accept that any sane government would think that nearly doubling capital expenditure while children beg in multiple locations of the capital city is the right thing to do. There must be a balance between direct poverty alleviation measures and investment for the future.
Currently, adjusting for prices, Guyana has a per capita GDP of over $80,000 USD. Which government would starve its people, ignore the cost-of-living crisis, ignore the monstrous poverty figures we face, and plow right on ahead with excess allocation of resources to infrastructural development. Only the kleptocratic PPP will do that! We are living in a kleptocracy in which there is no deva for the people of Guyana.
I began with a word on the gold-encrusted picture that the PPP has attempted to paint, and I want to end on it, as local gold production has been a topic of serious concern lately. We have pointed out the vast difference between gold declarations under the coalition and those under the PPP.
Gold declarations moved from 641,828 ounces in 2019 to 432,113 ounces in 2023, a very similar number to what was observed the previous time the PPP was in office. What a coincidence! This has resulted in severe sanctions being applied, sanctions so severe that we did not hear from the government for an epoch.
However, what we do know is that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that the PPP has been so focused on corruption, so dedicated to mismanagement, that several sectors have underperformed compared to when the Coalition was in government. Sugar has slumped to unspeakable levels of underperformance, and it seems every few months a fresh crisis of underperformance raises its head.
In combination with gold, sugar has historically represented a major non-oil foreign exchange earner. Its severe decline mirrors gold’s, falling from 105,000 tons under the coalition to a low of 47,000 tons under the PPP. These are apocalyptic numbers. It is no small wonder then that Guyana has been experiencing a prolonged foreign exchange crisis, prompting businesses to repeatedly plead for relief. It is clear the APNU+AFC government did better than the PPP without money from our oil resources.
This does not sound like an economy that is solid gold. This sounds like an economy that is gold-plated, and poorly so at that. At the slightest brush, the plating wears off, and the rot below is exposed. That is how we would like to characterize this economy under the PPP, as rotting from within, even as the PPP smiles and pretends that everything is going perfectly. We remind Guyanese that the Minister with responsibility for Finance cannot even tell us what the unemployment rate is for the last few years, because the government has not carried out the requisite surveys and published this veri. If they themselves don’t even know what the unemployment numbers are in Guyana, how can they claim to know anything about the true performance of the economy?
Mr. Chairman, if there is any consensus among most Guyanese, is that Guyana is in crisis. Our country needs to and must change to benefit all the people of Guyana! Guyana has now reached the tipping point.
People will no longer accept their continued poverty and pauperization amidst the existing oil wealth. People will no longer accept the normalization of high and rising costs of living. People now reject the glaring unfairness in the distribution of income, wealth, and opportunity. People no longer accept the PPP’s crony capitalism in which there is little or no competition, just government control and domination. The country’s oil wealth eludes and bypasses the average Guyanese. People are rejecting the ineptitude of the PPP who are seeking to determine how we live and survive while their seçkine, friends, families, and favorites plunder our newfound wealth.
The foregoing has resulted in Guyanese being disillusioned and clamoring for a change of government. Yes, people want an end to bad governance and bad-minded government. Guyana is ready for a change of government, and we are well prepared to be that new government.
These are dire times. It is in this context where wealth is eluding the people of Guyana that our Party has chosen the theme for this Congress to be: “Forming the next government: building a just, inclusive, and prosperous society for all.” This theme mobilizes us on a clear, urgent, and comprehensive mission, the success of which will transform Guyana into one of the best countries to live in with its people enjoying one of the highest living standards and quality of life.
We, in the PNCR, are well-suited for this mission. Since our Party’s founding over six decades ago, PEOPLE have always been first and at the centre of our purpose and vision. We today remain committed to our core principles, which we are widening and advocating in our People-Centered Development Strategy (PCDS).
We have defined our People-Centered Development Strategy in the National Assembly. We stated then that “… it puts people first and will utilize the resources of Guyana to achieve the ultimate goal of providing a high quality of life to the people of Guyana through the direct and indirect transfer of resources to our people, to educate them, support their mobilization of resources to work, and for investment with the aim of alleviating and ultimately eradicating poverty while simultaneously resulting in the sustainable development of all communities and sectors of the Guyanese society, as well as the promotion of good governance and the creation of a just and prosperous society. The PCDS will ensure that the needs of the people such as healthcare, housing, water, electricity, education, transportation, and other social services are guaranteed.”
This definition encapsulates exactly what our theme spells out. We will be the next government in Guyana. We will work assiduously to build “a just, inclusive, and prosperous society for all” in which the Private Sector plays a critical role in the development of the Guyanese society.
It is unacceptable for the present crisis to exist while we have oil wealth. We will manage the oil sector efficiently and effectively. We will put mechanisms in place to ensure that Guyana continuously increases the benefits from oil and gas and that these resources be used to ensure the development of Guyana, especially, our human resources.
As we seek to build a just, inclusive, and prosperous society, we must continue to work assiduously to increase the support of the people. Our contract is a new deal for the people of Guyana. The PNCR will seek to obtain and maintain the trust of the people to govern. We see our commitments, our pledges, and our responses to the Guyanese people as a CONTRACT WITH THE PEOPLE OF GUYANA. In that contract, our signature will bind us to deliver on our People-Centered Development Strategy, which will involve inter alia, the following:
- A livable income. We will guarantee the people of Guyana a livable income. In terms of living standards, we are going to raise those at the bottom up and expand the numbers of those in the middle class. Guyanese households and families will see meaningful changes on their dining tables, in their food cupboards, purses, wallets, and bank accounts. This will be complemented with a significant cash grant to households that are predictable and accounted for.
- Pathways to Prosperity. We will develop several pathways to prosperity. We will ensure personal and household prosperity through employment, self-employment, business investment, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. Our pathways will provide the “ladders” for Guyanese to pursue further economic self-empowerment.
- Building a caring society. Our main aim in the social sector is to build a caring society with a comprehensive social protection system. This system will be based on:
- a) our moral obligation as a government to the people,
- b) our respect for the human rights of citizens to a high quality of life, and
- c) as an investment in improving human resources for national economic growth and development. We will be a caring government. We will create a caring society. The well-being of every Guyanese will be at the centre of our agenda.
We have already spoken publicly about such policies and measures as a comprehensive early childcare and education system with monthly child allowances and longer maternity leave, a national transportation network to take children to school, a school nutrition programme that includes two hot meals; a genuinely free university with student stipends; free or cheap water and electricity for lower-income households; rent assistance and rent-to-own housing schemes; and higher salaries and pensions, among other measures. We intend to raise the pension of workers who have long retired and are earning a pittance by today’s cost of living levels. We will raise their pension so that they have the means to survive in the present difficult economic situation.
The PPP’s Vice President often snidely remarks that such programmes amount to the people “just eating out the budget.” However, we in the PNCR see it as investing in the people’s wellbeing and in the country’s human resources. Those who do not know what it is to go hungry will make the kind of statements that emanate from the PPP. We cannot accept that in our oil State, hundreds of people are hungry and homeless.
- An opportunity society. The PNCR is committed to building an opportunity society – where each Guyanese could aspire to be, and become the best person he or she could. Our aim is to facilitate equal opportunities and equity for all Guyanese.
- An inclusive and participatory democracy. Not only will the PNCR pursue the politics of inclusion, but we will also expand the scope for participatory democracy. By this, we mean that not only will the representatives of citizens participate in decision making, but the citizens themselves directly.
In this regard, we are committed to ending political interference in local democratic organs. The PNCR will advocate for local democratic organs to be autonomous and be given their subvention based on objective criteria.
- A secure and safe society. We will improve the security in the society so that people can live safely. We will increase training for the Guyana Police Force for it to become a professional, discipline services organisation so that it can solve crimes and take measures to ensure that the people of Guyana have confidence in our law enforcement agencies. We have to root out corruption from the Guyana Police Force while increasing its competence levels. Guyanese deserve to live in a safe and secure society. We did it in government between 2015 and 2020 and we will do it again.
- Development of the Youth. The PNCR will place youth development high on its agenda and revisit our national youth policy with the aim of adapting it to the present situation.
We believe that youths are not a sorun; they are resources to develop. In this regard, there will be a significant focus on training and educating young people while opening opportunities for them to have employment and be involved in business. We intend, in government, to execute our 50/50 youth programme, in which we will give 50,000 youths $50,000 a month while training them to improve their skills and to make themselves marketable!
- Development of Women. Our Party is indeed grateful for the significant contribution of our women to the Party and the development of Guyana. We applaud our women. They continue to be the backbone of our society, and like the youth, we will afford them similar opportunities, including the development of a network of early childhood development centres that will help them to nurture our children to maturity with the relevant core values.
- As a Party and with the wider society we will pursue increasingly higher levels of shared values, shared understandings, shared prosperity, and shared destiny. We need to develop a new national ethic. A new work ethic, discipline and caring for others.
We are the Party committed to INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY. The PNCR will never accept that Guyana, as one of the richest countries in the world, is increasingly plagued by food and income poverty, gaping inequality, and widespread economic desperation and hopelessness. It is a national disgrace that amid plenty, Guyanese and their families are becoming more pauperized, traumatized, and demoralized. It is for this reason the Party has to be organized to be in government.
We will replace national disgrace with national pride. We will give real meaning to Article 40(1) of Guyana’s constitution, which declares that: “every person in Guyana is entitled to the basic right to a happy, creative, and productive life, free from hunger, ignorance, and want.”
Our economic planning in government will follow a simple roadmap, it will maximize the revenues the country earns from our vast oil resources; reduce financial waste, inefficiencies, and corruption in government spending; expand the non-oil economy; remove the impediments of doing business in Guyana; and ensure good money gets directly and indirectly into the hands of the people.
In the realm of human development, the PNCR recognizes that the overriding priority is to ensure the economic development of Guyana. We are well aware that this can only be achieved through the work and effort of all the people of Guyana. In this regard, we will promote social cohesion which is central to our People-Centered Development Strategy. Also key to our PCDS is the personal and human development of all Guyanese and the creation of a society in which their legitimate aspirations can be fulfilled. We will therefore develop the skills and capabilities of all the people of Guyana so that they, in turn, can develop the natural and other resources of Guyana.
A logical sequel of the foregoing is that the country’s Natural Resource Fund must become a Shared Prosperity Fund for current and future generations. We will end the approach of the present government of plundering the Natural Resource Fund for the enrichment of their seçkine, families, friends, and favorites.
As a Party committed to social cohesion and ethnic harmony, our next government will walk the talk on social cohesion and ethnic harmony by developing clear policies and programmes that will result in social cohesion.
We will craft and implement a National Action Plan to transform race relations. For us in the PNCR, harmonious ethnic relations in Guyana must pass three tests at both the objective and subjective levels:
Test #1: Structural hindrances to fair treatment and equal opportunity must be eradicated in all spheres of public life. We will make concrete changes to our legislation, administrative policies, institutions, systems, and practices.
Test #2: All citizens must feel that their ethnic identity, culture, wellbeing, and aspirations are respected by the state. They must feel that their identities do not disadvantage them in becoming their best selves and participating to their fullest potential in their community and society.
Test #3: Citizens of different ethnicities must respectfully engage and cooperate with one another.
As a Party committed to GOOD GOVERNANCE, we will continue to work to ensure that good governance becomes part of our political culture. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are here to serve the people within a social contract. It is for this reason that we have been in communities across the country, listening to and working with the people of Guyana so that we know their needs, understand their aspirations, and can govern in their interest.
To honor that social contract, we must account and report to the people; we must consult with and listen to them; we must be reasonable, responsible, and responsive; we will respect their collective interests and will; and we will ensure their general and individual wellbeing and prosperity.
Our Parliament must build real capacity to deliberate and scrutinize and to make laws for the common good. Legislation that addresses rights and freedoms must have teeth. Constitutional commissions must be invigorated to fulfill their extensive mandates. Local government must win the confidence and support of the people. We will allow local government bodies the opportunity to work with and serve the people, rather than the present domination and control practiced by the current government. While we support the current constitutional ıslahat process, we recognize that there is much in the current constitution that already authorizes profound changes. Unfortunately, the present government and its political culture do not allow for the realization of its real potential.
We are the Party for SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUALITY.
In our vision, building a just society goes beyond economics. Our vision also includes expanding and upholding women’s rights and dignity, and the rights of and the respect for our Indigenous people. In relation to the Indigenous communities, we will work assiduously to make them self-sufficient and self-sustainable and ensure they have the right to elect their own leaders without government interference. Apart from these approaches to Indigenous issues, we will pursue a comprehensive plan for hinterland development with the aim of closing the gap between the hinterland and the coastland.
In the New Guyana we envisage, no Guyanese must be disadvantaged because of ethnicity, gender, creed, social status, religion, or disability. We will not only protect these rights but also promote and enhance them.
We are the Party always standing on the frontline in DEFENSE OF OUR TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND NATIONAL INTERESTS.
Our country faces its highest level of threat to its territorial integrity, national security, and sovereignty. The stakes could not be higher. Our borders are at stake; our national self determination is at stake; the control and command of our destiny are at stake; our collective peace of mind is at stake.
More now than ever, Guyana needs a Party and a government that can confront and overcome these existential challenges with a commitment rooted in a profound sense of patriotism and nationhood. Guyana needs a government that is uncompromising and relentless in its focus on these issues. We believe that we will be that government.
Foreign Policy
To achieve the above, we need an environment that is conducive to and supportive of our national development thrust and the protection of our territorial integrity.
We need to work towards reforming the present political and economic systems that provide the framework for managing the relations between states. This is the emergent consensus of a wide cross-section of experts, politicians, statesmen, diplomats, and citizens across the globe.
Crisis is the word often used. Geopolitical tensions are evident. Rivalries between and among existing and rising powers are the order of the day. The issues related to the environment are urgent.
The imperatives of the problems spawned by climate change can no longer be ignored. As an oil producing country we are cognizant of the challenges to the environment. In this regard, we believe that there is need for us to have environmental space to pursue our development while at the same time ensuring environmental conservation. As a low-lying coastal state, it is imperative that we shift our development initiatives to the high lands.
The küresel economy is showing signs of instability. Of pressing concern to the citizens of Guyana is the resurgence of the assault on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of small states in Europe and Asia, which can be a template for some misguided political scofflaw of our region.
My own experience in foreign affairs and the analysis of analysts tells me that in the circumstances described, a small nation like Guyana, even with the resources from oil at its disposal, must have a coordinated and coherent national and foreign policy in order to survive and prosper. Such a foreign policy is an extension of our national policy and must be formulated based on the success and experience gained as a nation and the careful consideration of new factors ignited by globalization. Unfortunately, the current administration, after four years, is nowhere near articulating what exactly is the foreign policy of this nation and on what it is based.
At this Congress, we will discuss and scrutinize our foreign policy and offer the people of Guyana areas for improvement and the strengthening of the foreign ministry. But here I want to focus on two areas where the lack of a well-thought-out foreign policy threatens the prosperity and existence of this nation. We have always regarded the Caribbean Community as our first line of defense. Can we in all good conscience say this is true today?
In the judgment of my Party, some CARICOM States seem to have relations that are closer to Latin American states than with the rest of the region. In fact, we have seen on several occasions that leaders of the community would take a position on our territorial controversy that does not align with our own. I believe that this unfortunate situation has come about because we do not have, as I have said before, a coherent foreign policy which could facilitate a needed outreach to the States of the Caribbean Community and even further afield to Latin America. We need to begin a new dialogue with our brothers and sisters of CARICOM to get them to understand that the aggression of Venezuela has now become so serious that it poses an existential threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Guyana.
We in the People’s National Congress cannot understand why the PPP administration is making no effort to leverage its position as a Petro State to improve and expand relations with the States of the Caribbean Community. The PPP, for example, can offer the Caribbean Community States oil at reasonable prices or create a mechanism such as a CARICOM Multilateral Clearing Facility (CMCF) which allows States of the community to get needed oil and petroleum products.
What is alarming to us is that our brothers and sisters in the community do not seem to understand the geopolitical ambitions of our western neighbor. Venezuela needs an outlet to the Atlantic so that it can continue its domination of the Eastern Caribbean States. Caracas has already succeeded in taking over Bird Island or Alves Island, and it has used programmes such as Petro Caribe to gain leverage over the Eastern Caribbean States. What is alarming in this context is that some of the Eastern Caribbean States seem prepared to accept Venezuelan dominance or lordship. It does not make for easy reading what the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said in April of 2007. He is reported as saying that the “Organizations of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) had accepted Venezuela’s sovereignty over Bird Island and that he would not allow anyone to dictate whether or not he should put pressure on the Government of Venezuela in relation to the issue.”
We cannot understand why the government cannot craft the required foreign policy initiatives to counter Venezuela’s diplomatic clout in the Eastern Caribbean. It is our fervent hope that the government will make every effort to reclaim the position we had with the Caribbean Community, which is important to us both diplomatically and geopolitically. Let me end this section of my speech with a warning. At the CARICOM Summit in 1982, the then President of Guyana pointed out that any diminution of the States of the Caribbean represents the diminution of the territory of the Caribbean Community as a whole. Mr. Forbes Burnham said that if Venezuela succeeds in its greedy ambition, Guyana “stands to lose the whole of its territory and CARICOM runs the risk of being deprived of 67% of its geographical territory…”
The second matter which I wish to raise with you today is the ongoing aggressive claim to the Essequibo by Venezuela. In the past, it was possible for Guyana to engage with the Government of Venezuela without having to cope with the assertion of extreme positions. This has changed. Now the Maduro administration not only illegally claims the entire Essequibo region but also continues to use its military might to intimidate and threaten our nation. This situation has placed Guyana in a precarious position, requiring us to be vigilant and strategic in our response.
We must develop a robust and cohesive foreign policy to address this issue effectively. Our approach must involve diplomatic engagement, kanunî action, and strengthening international alliances to ensure that our territorial integrity is preserved. We must also work to build national unity and resilience, making it clear to our citizens and the world that we are prepared to defend our land and our sovereignty at all costs.
Essequibo belongs to Guyana!
It is essential that we leverage our position as an oil-producing nation to build stronger ties with our neighbors and international allies. We should seek to create mutually beneficial agreements that not only enhance our economic prospects but also solidify our geopolitical standing. We must communicate clearly and consistently with the international community about the legitimacy of our territorial claims and the unjust nature of Venezuela’s aggression.
Moreover, we must invest in our defense capabilities to ensure that we are prepared to protect our borders. This includes improved military training, modernizing our military, enhancing our surveillance and intelligence capabilities, and fostering a sense of national pride and readiness among our people. We must make it clear to Venezuela and the world that we will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our sovereignty!
Our Party is committed to addressing these challenges head-on. We believe that with a clear and coherent foreign policy, strategic diplomatic engagement, and a united and resilient nation, we can overcome these threats to our territorial integrity and national interests. We call on all Guyanese to stand with us in this effort, as we work to secure a prosperous and secure future for our beloved country.
The other matter I wish to raise with you today is the ongoing aggressive claim to the Essequibo by Venezuela. In the past, it was possible for Guyana to engage with the Government of Venezuela without having to cope with the assertion of extreme positions. This has changed. Now the Maduro administration not only lays claim to our territory but has also created what is called the “Guayana Esequiba” as an entity with a central military command and rights under the Venezuelan constitution, such as citizenship and the right to sit in Venezuelan parliamentary institutions. This is dangerous and must be condemned by the international community in its entirety. There is also a need for the government of Guyana to formulate strategies to surmount the problems that this dangerous situation poses.
While the government has taken some measures to counter Venezuela’s aggression, our Party believes there should be a more robust diplomatic outreach to identify states in the international community, especially the states in Latin America. We have to push Venezuela back from its ongoing aggression and its efforts to concretize such aggression through a programme of strong diplomacy. I wish to emphasize that we must have a foreign policy that caters to such needs. As it stands, the government seems to react to every aggressive act by Venezuela in the narrowest of senses, and as a consequence, does not seem to cater to the geopolitical implications of Venezuela’s territorial greed.
To realize the above-stated programmes, there is a need for a strong, focused, and organized Party to bring them to fruition. We need and must become the next government.
Our Party
To become the next government, we will work tirelessly to obtain the support of the people of Guyana. Our Party must increase its readiness, appeal, credibility, capability, and electability. This Congress, therefore, will be used to re-energize, regroup, and refocus our Party and its membership to urgently achieve these goals. We all have to sing from the same page in explaining our Party’s philosophy and our people-centered development strategy. We have to optimize the use of the skills and capacities of our members and supporters. We have to make our case in all communities across the land. We have to persuade Guyanese that our oil wealth under our new government will guarantee them a decent standard of living and a high quality of life. We will demonstrate to Guyanese that the PNCR feels their pain and is willing to listen. As we move forward, we have to be our best selves.
Of critical importance, we must meet the people wherever they are. No one must claim they did not see us or hear from us. Let this Congress galvanize us on a collective mission.
But to do this, we have to be a disciplined Party in which we stay on message and keep the Party’s business in the Party. We must recognize that every time we put our business out there, we strengthen our opponents at the expense of victory in the next General and Regional Elections.
Our task at this stage is to be organized and active in every community. We must be the image of the Party on the ground – an image that redounds to our benefit. We envisage a Party in which there is self-discipline, meaning that our members do what has to be done on time, effectively and efficiently without anyone having to tell them what to do. We must be guided by the Party’s policies so that we can be a unified force working to return good governance to Guyana.
I have no doubt that as a Party we are up to the challenge. We will continue to fight for biometrics and a clean voters list which no doubt will guarantee us victory at the next General and Regional Elections. Victory is on the horizon! Let us work to realise this victory for the people of Guyana.
Long Live the People’s National Congress Reform!
Long Live the People of Guyana!
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