It is to contest the upcoming General Elections in 2006 and is plugging massive foreign investment as the country's salvation.

One of the party's pledges is that it will lead Guyana into becoming a rich country where all working class Guyanese will graduate to middle-class category within the shortest possible time. Da Silva, who had been affiliated with both the PPP/C and the PNCR at various times in recent years, said that ARC is less politics and more economics. "We must say no to raced-based parties," he said during a one-hour televised statement on VCT Channels 28 and 12 which marked his party's launch. He said that the party was formed 11 months ago.

When asked about the unorthodox method of the party's launch, Da Silva, who earned the sobriquet `Rouser' for his calypsos, told Stabroek News that he prefers to use the electronic medium. He said too that music - he is a recording engineer and one of his calypsos was used by the PPP/C in the 1992 general election - forms part of his campaign and songs that he recorded in Trinidad and Barbados will be played to the Guyanese public.

The former PPP/C parliamentarian who lives in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) told Stabroek News yesterday that he has been inundated with calls and e-mails since the launching of the party on Sunday. Da Silva served the People's Progressive Party/ Civic government under the Cheddi Jagan administration. He later crossed the floor to the ranks of the People's National Congress (PNC).

"An All Races Government, an ARC Government, will work hard to get the developed countries' governments not to hold our people responsible for the actions of the [PPP/C and PNCR]," he said.

He added that "poverty breeding nationalism" propagated by governments of the PPP/C and PNCR, has taken the country backwards by discouraging American multinational companies and other large foreign investors from coming to Guyana.

He is of the view that wealth creation is the only answer to what he called Guyana's worsening economic and social condition. He is confident that his government will be looked at sympathetically "because we are not looking for handouts".

He said that to gain the support of the international investors a government could not embrace nationalism and Marxist thinking. "If you want to get help and assistance from the United States and the system of the west you [can't have] photo opportunities with Fidel Castro," he declared.

Da Silva promises that during ARC's first year in government, Guyana will have internationally accepted standards in the delivery of potable water, electricity and telecommunications. He said that infrastructure projects will no longer be built to "quickly self destruct" and the feasibility studies for a passenger and cargo rail transportation system, hydro-electricity and a deep-water harbour will be pursued with vigour.

ARC promises that after five years in office, around 75 large foreign investment companies will be operating in Guyana. Da Silva also said that after five years an ARC government will reduce personal and corporate income taxes in an effort to further stimulate the economy.

He said that because Guyana has been suffering from a crisis of governance for almost 40 years, crime has reached unprecedented proportions. He surmises that crime is at a level that neither the PPP/C nor the PNCR can stop.

He is of the belief that only an ARC government, which he said would not pit one race against the other, can arrest the crime situation. "We will confront the root cause of crime, which is poverty, and we will eradicate poverty by making Guyana a rich country with the help of large numbers of foreign investors," he said during his statement.

He contended that with the private sector being the driving economic force, the government's major concern must be to look after the economic health of all the people by setting modern capitalist and legal ground rules.

According to Da Silva, his party's guiding economic philosophy will be an unshakable concern for the majority of Guyanese living in poverty.

Da Silva said: "We will confront the root cause of crime which is poverty." And he believes that to achieve this, the country's old voting habits must be broken.

He envisages that with ARC in government the economy will be strengthened and the Guyana dollar will be re-valued. The Guyana economy needs US$3 billion in investment to be turned around, he said.

Da Silva, 62, told Stabroek News that he is not willing to reveal the names of the other members of the ARC because he is afraid that they may be victimised. But he disclosed that ARC has an executive of seven.

Da Silva, who is also a machine technician, said that after the names of the others in the party have been divulged, ARC will commence its campaign proper with the formation of groups which will hold countrywide meetings with a view to swinging votes ARC's way.

He said that race-based parties have made a laughing stock of Guyana's politics and that the two major parties in Guyana, the PNCR and PPP/C "have tricked Guyana into thinking more about politics than our own economic success."

He said that they have done this by playing on racial differences. Breaking into song, he sang: "Race-based parties for power you lust, how much more do you want from us, 40 years you two have used race, trying hard to divide up this place. Women are bearing the brunt of your blows, our young people they have no hope. I worked with both of you, saw people get black and blue".

He blames the PPP/C and PNCR for making Guyana one of the most heavily indebted and poorest countries in the world.

Da Silva said that ARC is a part with a non-racial philosophy and an enriching business plan. He argued that the fact that Guyana is impoverished has led to neighbours showing disrespect for the country's sovereignty.