Confident of re-election come September 1, 2025, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) on Monday unveiled its plans for the country, promising sweeping reforms in governance, procurement, and local democracy. Among the commitments is the establishment of an anti-corruption unit and the full enforcement of the Access to Information Act.
The pledge was met with applause from party supporters during the manifesto launch at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. But Ganesh Mahipaul, the Vice Presidential candidate for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), dismissed the announcement as nothing short of laughable.
“The biggest joke of elections 2025 is not the comedy acts coming from the new parties, it’s the PPP/C now promising to fight corruption and enforce transparency,” he said.
He said the PPP/C, a party he accuses of “perfecting the art of cover-ups” is “suddenly talking about anti-corruption units” is humourous.
The APNU member added, “The same government that strangled the Access to Information Act is now pretending to want to ‘fully enforce’ it. This isn’t reform, it’s desperation.”
Mahipaul noted that the PPP/C Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali and the Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo “know their days are numbered, and they’re clutching at straws”.
He said the only real solution is to vote them out and finally let Guyana breathe again.
The PPP/C’s promise of an anti-corruption unit comes five years after it disbanded the State Assests Recovery Agency (SARA), an entity that was established by the former APNU+AFC administration.
Arguing that SARA was not created with the “best interest” of the people in mind, the Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, announced in October 2020, that a decision was taken to close the operations of agency.
The PPP/C in its 2025 election manifesto is also promising to strengthen systems of accountability to ensure public procurement remains “fair, transparent, competitive, efficient, and value for money”.
