By Alexis Rodney – The recent announcement by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) introducing its presidential candidate and other officials for the upcoming general and regional elections, is no indication of the party’s plan to divide the opposition.
In fact, co-leader, Dr David Hinds, whom the party has named its presidential candidate, affirmed WPA’s commitment to strengthening its own link, which will ultimately strengthen the political opposition.
The party announced Saturday, that it has also selected Dr Hinds, a longstanding member, as a co-leader of the party as he has emerged as one of the major social and political influencers in Guyana, through his daily online programme, Politics 101.
Addressing online followers Monday, Dr Hinds said the WPA is utilising its energy to revive the political party, an initiative it had put on the back burner for more than a decade.
The party, he explained, spent a lot of time building the coalition, through its contribution to the manifesto in 2011, 2015 and 2020 and its activism on its behalf. In turn, upon assuming government in 2015, the coalition’s big party, gave the WPA a single ministerial position.
“This time around, we have decided that we are going to strengthen ourselves as the first step towards coalition, hence the naming of our leadership team. Now that we have taken that first step, we are going to broaden our work.”
The party will soon be upping its campaign in communities across Guyana, resuscitating party groups and presenting its platform of education transformation, structured and legal cash-transfers, a universal basic income for all Guyanese workers, equitable distribution of the country’s oil resources, and an end to winner-take-all politics.
With more Guyanese already indicating their interest in the party, Dr Hinds extended further invitations to other Guyanese to be part of either the card bearing membership or follower-members of the party. He explained that should the People’s National Congress (PNC), the Alliance for Change (AFC) and WPA decide to go to the elections as a coalition, he will be the leader of his party’s list. If the units move to the polls individually, he will be presented as WPA’s presidential candidate.
He made it clear that his party stands solidly for coalition politics.
“We believe that the now opposition has its best chance if we go in as a coalition… so each party has to put itself in order and I think that if each party puts itself in order and in readiness for the election, if and when it comes time for us to put together the coalition, it will be ready. This time around, we have decided that we are going to strengthen ourselves, the first step toward coalition. Now that we have taken that first step, we will now broaden our work.”
He said further, “we are for unity of the opposition. But in order for that unity to be strong, each link has to be strong. And so, we in the WPA are saying that we are about to strengthen our link.”
Dr Hinds said his party has already began working on its economic policy platform. which will propose that all Guyanese benefit from the country’s oil and gas resources. This will include the transfer of the country’s oil wealth directly to individuals and families. Along with the cash transfer, the WPA is also proposing the universal basic income, where each adult will be guaranteed a basic income.
The party will also be placing special emphasis on education, which Dr Hinds lamented, is in in a terrible state.
“The first thing that we are going to do is raise the pay of teachers. You can’t pay teachers what you are paying them and expect your education system to work. If you underpay me, then I will underperform and if I, as a teacher underperform, then the whole system underperforms.”
A firm handle will also be placed on the widespread illiteracy that is plaguing Guyanese, especially the youth. Dr Hinds said more than 50 per cent of young Guyanese are functionally illiterate.
“There’s no shame in illiteracy. The shame is when the country does nothing about it. It is the government of this country that has rendered them illiterate. You cannot pay teachers what you are paying them and expect them to give 100 per cent to the children.”
The party co leader addressed the financial state of African Guyanese who have been virtually cut off from Guyana’s economic development.
“Black people are being left behind with the wealth and we are not wavering on that. We are not dancing around on that; that there is an ethno-racial bias in the distribution of wealth and righting that wrong will be number one on our platform.”
“We think that if we get the racial distribution right, we will get the class distribution right, because there is a class bias, that it is the Indian and Portuguese elites that are hugging the resources and then because the Indian poor vote for the PPP, a little trickle down to them. The African Guyanese and Amerindian poor, there is nothing to trickle down,” he stated.
