Ever since the 2015 election, President Granger of the APNU/AFC coalition government has made a number of statements regarding the role of government in transforming the economy. These statements are contradictory. It is a manifestation that the government does not understand the role of the government in the economy. The position of the United Republican Party stands in sharp contradiction to the government’s position and how this government plans to stimulate the economy to create the “good life” for all Guyanese.

It is clear to the URP that the Granger government is oblivious to the economic needs of the Guyanese people. Consider the following statements and actions by the government since its ascension to office in May 2015. According to Granger, Guyanese should be self-employed or seek self-employment in order to improve their economic status and standard of living. However, the government has not laid out any major economic policy or plan that would create public confidence in the economy, nor has the government encourage Guyanese to take on private initiative that would lead them to become gainfully employed. Second, before the elections, rice farmers, who form a major backbone of the economy, were promised that they would receive $9000 per bag of paddie. Yet rice farmers today have not seen that reality materialize, as regional markets close their door to rice produced in Guyana. Third, the government has not made any serious attempt to find local buyers for their cash crop, despite the fact that many of these local farmers depend on available markets to sell their products. Local farmers are left on their own to secure markers, and as such, Guyana’s ability to exploit the Caribbean community as a potential market source has not materialize. While Guyanese continue to struggle, government ministers did not hesitate to give themselves a 50% increase in salary.

The URP, a political party which prides itself on support for economic liberalism and a market economy with limited government interference since its formation in March 1985, views these statements and government inaction with great alarm. Guyana needs a government that works for all Guyanese. The URP shares the ideological belief that individuals are best capable of establishing their own economic initiative, which in itself will serve as the engine of growth, when government create the necessary conditions for such growth to take place. We reject the idea that an economy will develop with total government intervention or that an economy can develop and thrive where government plays a central role in controlling the economy, as in a command economy. Although the URP believes that economic liberalism may lead to some government regulation to ensure equality, we believe that such interventions should be limited and tempered with caution. So, while the government or state does have a role in ensuring that all Guyanese are entitled to free and fair competition, it has a specific, but important role to play in our economic development.

The URP differs with the current policy of the government. The Guyanese people need the government to create the appropriate investment climate so that individuals can become the engine of growth. For instance, the government is responsible for securing a market abroad for farmers who produce cash crops or rice for sale. Businessmen are not equipped with the careful understanding of all the type of regulations that exist between Guyana and its regional partners, nor are they keenly aware of the trade policies that Guyana has established with its neighbors. It is therefore imperative for the Guyana government to create the business friendly environment (negotiating bilateral and multilateral agreements with neighboring countries, establish trade policies, educate local businessmen about trade policies with neighboring partners, etc) that can promote the economy.

Instead, what we are seeing in Guyana is a situation where a government is simply getting by with ad hoc trade policies. In such a climate, it is the business community that will continue to suffer. The URP calls on the current government to create the climate that is necessary for Guyanese businessmen to become the engine of growth.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump is having a political meltdown in the USA not very different from the APNU/AFC Coalition’s precipitous meltdown right here in Guyana. And the reasons for the two meltdowns are basically the same; a profound ability to not be concerned with any of the outside realities and tell tail signs of failure and dislike by the population. Neither the Trump campaign or the APNU led coalition is seeing the harsh realiry confronting each. How could a government not know the impact of the fall out which resulted from the unjustifiable and significant increase in their salaries and the firing of workers? And how can the coalition not understand that the reason it gave for the increases – which was to make the Ministers un-bribable – is now proving laughable? The coalition is caught in the worst corrupt practices imaginable and instead of firing the guilty it simply asks them to apologize and continue to steal. Corruption is alive and well within this new government worse than its predecessor.

The meltdown continues with their support for the still unjustifiable parking meter scheme. The Government continues to pussyfoot about the legality of this illegal issue, while claiming that it is under review. It is as if the administration is tone-deaf to the cries of their constituents. The leaders of the M&CC, with its Central Government imposed Town Clerk, continues to be an albatross around the necks of the new administration. Yet no efforts are being made to stymie the inevitable electoral backlash which will result from this impasse. Additionally, the melt down is again on the march with the pharmaceutical bond fiasco. Again, like with the parking meter deal, the Granger administration is calling for an investigation and review. Blatant corruption and crookish acts by members of this administration are all swept under the rug under the disguise of “review” and “investigation”.

This administration, very much like the previous administration, thinks that the Guyanese populace are doltish. It is almost laughable how this government while in the opposition decried the corrupt behaviors of the previous government, while mimicking, exactly, the very atrocities. Could President Granger tell the Guyanese people why he needs to investigate the behaviour of the Minister of Health? What is there to investigate? Furthermore, we are still awaiting the result of the investigation as to why Minister Joseph Harmon was on that plane in China with BK and BishaLin. It is obvious what “investigating” means when defined by the Granger administration.

Concerns are also being raised as to the Billions of dollars in settlements to the very BK. It is obvious that the Granger Government is in-too-deep. It seems as if they have neither the capacity nor the requisite competence to successfully manage Guyana. In just one year, the unconscionable corruption as displayed by the PPP is being repeated by these new ministers, with just as much frequency and magnitude. The United Republican Party (URP) is therefore wondering if it not time for a review of the Cummingsburg Accord, with an aim of restructuring the government? Or maybe the administration needs to invite credible members of the previous administration to aid in stop-gap measures to reduce the unfolding meltdown.

We the Guyanese masses continue in observe in bewilderment the stagnation of our country. The corrupt wealthy are becoming more corrupt and more wealthy, while those who work hard and honestly for what they have or need are feeling the blunt of an inept and neophytic government. Simultaneous to the economic stagnation is the fact that more than 15 months have passed and there are still no plans for growth and job creation. The Government has adopted an auto pilot mode and the country is now being taken for a ride along an uncertain path.There was a time when a majority of the Guyanese people would have accepted this kind of visionless leadership. That time has passed! Except for some kind of electoral fraud, the Guyanese voters will hold their leaders to account. Gone are the days when any party got an overwhelming support, even while hurting the country.

We saw the shift from blind party allegiance in 2011 and again in 2015. The URP will continue to meet with the electorate across the length and breadth of Guyana. We will continue to cast a vision for a safe and progressive country. And when the time comes, we will ask for consideration to be given to us as elected representatives. Meanwhile, it is just so sad to have to sit on the side-lines and watch the sickening and unjustifiable meltdown of the current administration that is in a free fall like the Trump campaign. It is sad because even as they continue to meltdown, they are taking the youths, desires and the economic fortunes of the country with them. There is not a bright future for Trump if he continues with his racist campaign and there won’t be a future for APNU (AFC has dissolved into APNU) unless it cleans up its corrupt ways.