My fellow Guyanese, I thank you for choosing me as your President. When I was approached to lead the party, to become its President, I had to give it some thought. But when I looked around at the failed leadership in our country, I could not refuse the call to lead the republican movement to take this country and give it an opportunity to reach its true potential.
My fellow Guyanese,
I thank you for choosing me as your President. When I was approached to lead the party, to become its President, I had to give it some thought. But when I looked around at the failed leadership in our country, I could not refuse the call to lead the republican movement to take this country and give it an opportunity to reach its true potential.
I have accepted the Presidency of this magnificent party. This is a huge responsibility and success depends on your support and commitment. It is my intention to devote my full term as President exclusively in service to our members and supporters and to increase membership and show the country how our party is different from others and why they must support us for their full freedom, especially from politicians who seek to exploit them for their personal interests.
The URP is a political movement with clear and specific policies that are people centered not self-centered like other parties that have governed us over the lastsixty years and that have failed the nation. Leaders of other parties have failed the people and the nation. I intend to be different. I want this party to succeed and to be a people’s party. I strongly urge you all to support me and the party if you equally have this belief.
You have laid upon me trust and faith in doing an effective job. And I do not intend to let you down. I will try to be worthy of the trust and be the best leader the people and the nation deserve. Going forward my goal is simply to build. Let us come together and build through consensual politics and you will notice that since taking up the leadership of the URP, I have sought to rebuild it from scratch. I intend to go from village to village and from town to town telling the people of the issues, of the great need for better government, for an end to corruption, and for the sound principles of government of the people and for the people. I pledge to you to be a model leader. I pledge my utmost efforts to make this party great and for you to be proud of me. In return, I ask for your support, without it, I cannot succeed. Rebuilding this party is not a one-person task. I cannot do it alone. It cannot be the work of any one man or of a little group of executives who meet in private conferences like the present rulers do and those in the past did. I need the support of each one of you. All hands are needed on deck. It must be the work of many, of all of us.
I must express that we have very caring and dedicated members, executives, and activists. Our party has some of the ablest, noblest, and brightest men and women to be found in Guyana and in the diaspora. They are all people of intellect and integrity. They are all capable of running a government. Our activists and members are persistent on and doing great work to build the party in the face of tremendous hardship and suffering. They are victimized in Guyana, but they are not deterred. They are persistent on helping me build a great party and for victory at the next general election. Our members are facing various challenges with courage. Everything we say or do today and in the future, is and must be devoted to the single purpose of serving the people.
We are preparing our party to contest the next general election with the objective of making the difference in the politics of our nation. Although we are back now and may look as the youngest political party in the country, we are a party of principles comprising people of integrity. We are working hard going to the ground meetings grassroots people who are being hurt by the policies of this uncaring regime. People had given their trust to the PPP, PNC, and AFC and all of them have betrayed the nation. In all the records of the past 60 years of governments, is there anything that suggests that the governments brought or can bring about development, high-level employment, growth, higher standard of living? They failed us in the past and will fail us in the future. A United Republican Administration will succeed where others have failed because we are people centered and incorruptible. We care for people, not for ourselves. We are compassionate and altruistic. They will attack us and they will harass us. But we must move forward with building our party and preparing it for the next general election. Victory is coming. I thank you for your support, commitment and dedication to this party. A United Republican Administration is coming. But for us to get there, we must build this party to make it stronger.
Thank you for your pledge and your support! Let us work united to grow this party and prepare it for governance. May God, bless you and May God bless our party and its members and supporters and our nation!
Yours in service,
Dr. Vishnu Bandhu
President/URP
I am honored to be chosen as the leader of the United Republican Party, the party that will make a difference in the politics of our country. People voted for changes in May 2015, but this government has let down the nation. I have been critical of both preceding governments and this one. They have all disappointed us. A shadow of gloom has been cast over our lovely rainbow nation. Politicians are dividing our people in the interest of personal political power. The leadership of the URP is different; we want to bring people together. We want healing in our divided nation. We must restore trust to the political process. The URP will end the division and bring people together.
Our party is different from those that have governed and ruined our nation over the last 60 years. We are a party of selfless dedicated workers and volunteers. Our party is people oriented. It exists to serve the people and not the other way around as applied to the other parties. Our party means what it says and says what it means. It is our party’s philosophy that power belongs to the people. The resources belong to the people. The government must govern on behalf of the needs of the people. So far, the parties in charge of the affairs of our country have governed on behalf of themselves and relatives, families and friends. The people and their needs are the last thought of the parties in office. We must change the politics of our nation to be people driven; the people must always be first. And that has been the goal of our plans, programs, aims, objectives and the manifesto in general. Just browse our manifesto and you will note the differences between us and those sitting in parliament. We have a fantastic program as reflected in our manifesto that is posted on the internet. Our party has addressed issues that are of concern to people; we have a detailed position on various issues.
We will pursue policies that will lead to economic growth and a rise in income. We need political and economic reform that will allow all groups and everyone to be part of the government. Our primary concern is absolute freedom for our people, security, job creation and a higher standard of living. We believe people should have the absolute right to choose their government. But even more fundamental, we think people should decide on the kind of constitution we should have. The Burnham constitution must go and be replaced by a democratic constitution approved by the people in free and fair referenda; people should be given a choice in constitutions. And the constitution must not be top driven; It must be created by the people and not by politicians who are only too eager to entrench themselves in office using the constitution for that purpose. Power must be decentralized and people should run their own affairs in every community. There must be term limits for all office holders so that politicians are denied an opportunity become petty dictators. Just to recap, I implore you to join with the URP to bring change by holding those in office accountable by freely critiquing them and removing those who have failed us. The people have an opportunity to support a decent party like the URP that is not power oriented but people oriented. I urge you to read our manifesto and ideas on how Guyana should be governed. I also urge you to send your ideas on constitutional reform and how the country should be governed. I appeal to you to let the URP correct the gloom that casts this terrible spell of doom over us by supporting the URP. We all must answer the country’s challenges ahead with courage and selflessness. As party leader, I want to thank you for your support for our movement and party goals over the years. Without your support and cooperation, we will be nothing and in fact our struggle would be pointless. We are struggling to serve you to improve your life and to build a better Guyana for all of us. I look forward to hearing from you for your input to help guide and grow the URP, your party, the party of the future. Regards Dr Vishnu Bandhu