Formation of Govt. in December 1964

Jan 24, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
With reference to correspondence in your newspaper in December 2009 involving principally Dr. Prem Misir and Mr. Rashleigh Jackson concerning the formation of the Government after the general elections held in December 1964, I thought that it might serve some useful purpose by making a contribution, albeit belated, to the exchanges.
The status of the contesting political parties after the general elections was as follows: – People’s Progressive Party (PPP) 24 seats, People’s National Congress (PNC) 22 seats, and the United Force (UF) 7 seats.
The PPP therefore, did not obtain the overall Parliamentary majority in the House of Assembly which it had enjoyed previously.
However, the leaders of the PNC and the UF announced their intention to form a coalition of their respective parties thereby obtaining a majority in the legislative body and, consequently, being in a position to form the Government. Dr. Jagan contended that as the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Assembly he should have been invited by Governor Luyt to form the Government.
He contended that although the PPP did not obtain the overall majority in the House of Assembly, the policies which his party intended to implement would have received the support of the PNC in the legislative body thereby facilitating the passage of legislation in the Assembly. Governor Luyt did not accept Dr. Jagan’s approach to forming the new Government, presumably on such a tenuous basis.
Dr. Jagan did not resign thereby necessitating the intervention of the United Kingdom Government to overcome the impasse with the making of an Order by Her Majesty the Queen in Council on 14th December 1964.
The Order provided for the vacation of the office of the Premier whenever he was informed by the Governor that the latter was about to reappoint him or to appoint another person as Premier. The Order in Council enabled the formation of the new Government by the coalition of the PNC and the UF enjoying the support of the majority of the members of the legislative body the House of Assembly.
The attainment of sovereign status by the country in the near future was not in doubt on the basis of the deliberations at the constitutional conference in London in 1962, but the timing of that event, however, depended on the situation prevailing in the country following the disturbances between 1962 and 1964.
The final stages in preparation for Guyana’s independence were determined at the constitutional conference in London in November 1965.
The PPP did not attend the conference. Dr. Jagan had demanded certain conditions for the PPP’s attendance, for example, new elections with the voting age fixed at 18 years and the rejection of the system of proportional representation.
Brynmor Pollard, S.C.

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Formation of Govt. in December 1964

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