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Herein lies the evil that is destroying this country
It is not necessary to trace the contours of the presidency of Forbes Burnham, because vast areas of his exercise of power have been written about and knowledge of his dictatorial reign is quite known, even to the newer Guyanese generation.
For an erudite leader whose passionate nationalism brought him international status, Mr. Burnham’s nemesis was his ideological belief that a leader’s power must be coterminous with the society.
This is not to say that Premier Jagan didn’t believe in the same conceptualization. He did. But Jagan’s latitude was curtailed by the British Colonial Office
Although Burnham knew that the two Jagans (Cheddi and Janet) were not made of any superior moral stuff or perhaps were greater moral offenders than him, Burnham simply refused to be inclusive. Even if he didn’t want to extend an inviting hand to the PPP, he could have done just that with the WPA.
Elvin McDavid, a former Burnham protégé who admires Burnham to the point of adulation, told me that in his judgment, one of Burnham’s regrettable mistakes was that he confronted the WPA rather than try to reach out. Forbes Burnham was an unapologetic believer in the omnipotence of the leader.
It is no different with the PPP. Both of the Jagans had short-lived presidencies (Cheddi – 29 months; Janet – 20 months) so their intended domination of the society did not materialize.
Their protégé, Mr. Jagdeo, has been in power since October 1999 and his penetrating tentacles have been more ubiquitous than Burnham. It would be accurate to say that the reach of Jagdeo’s power has eclipsed the examples of Burnham in Guyana, Eric Gairy in Grenada and Vere Bird in Antigua.
Mr. Jagdeo’s pursuit of omnipotent authority has been the most successful in the English-speaking Caribbean
It would be a valid contestation to put on the table that says that Mr. Jagdeo’s tenure has been marked by more corruption, more racist discrimination and less nationalism than Mr. Burnham’s. Of course there are areas where Burnham outstrips Jagdeo to the point where it would be comical to compare the two.
In the compartments of intellectual strength, ingenious planning, extensive understanding of class politics, administrative competence, urbane image, ethical standards and PR finesse, Mr. Burnham was literally billions of miles in front of Mr. Jagdeo
It would also be a correct argument that posits that Mr. Burnham was less interested in creating a one-dimensional society than Mr. Jagdeo. Mr. Jagdeo is on a frenetic pursuit to make Guyana a totalitarian nation in which he is the epicenter. For this reason, I doubt Mr. Jagdeo will give up the third term ambition. He may not succeed but he will try. I have written before that I believe he will get the PPP’s presidential nomination for 2011
There are obsessions of control that possess Mr. Jagdeo that would not have interested Mr. Burnham.
Mr. Jagdeo wants to control every aspect of social operations in Guyana. I didn’t know that his government was intent on producing a tourist guide to compete with the one published by the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana until I read it in KN last Saturday.
A few years back, nearing the general elections of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), the state media outlets rushed to sign up their employees en masse so they could control the executive body. It failed. At the last election they boycotted the event.
The desire is to take over the GPA. If they can’t, they will not participate.
In the bauxite industry, the union is not a PPP sympathizer so it must be broken and be replaced with a pro-government union.
Critchlow Labour College’s board must have a majority thst reflects the Government’s sentiments if not it will be starved of funds.
In the public sector, a rival union was invented to compete with the PSU. The University of Guyana has a staff that is not pro-government so it must be de-funded. The Ethnic Relations Commission’s life is up. It can only be extended by a two/thirds parliamentary vote.
This is yet to be done because of the controversy over its head. The story is that he does not belong to a credible organization therefore he cannot be the chairman. Nevertheless the mandate of the ERC was extended by a simple majority in the National Assembly. This is the evil that is destroying the fabric and physiology of this nation. It first started under Premier Jasgan, gathered pace and continued under Burnham, stopped during the Hoyte interregnum and now it has resumed under Jagdeo.
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