October 5 – A defining moment in the political life of Guyana

Oct 05, 2013 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
October 5 can be justifiably regarded as a defining moment in the political life of Guyana. For one thing, it marked a break from nearly three decades of authoritarian rule by a regime that was foisted initially on the backs of the Guyanese people by western imperialist powers which eventually morphed into one of the worst forms of quasi-military and dictatorial rule in the English-speaking Caribbean.
This month, the month of October, marked twenty-one years since the end of authoritarian rule in Guyana following the election to office of the PPP/C administration after some twenty-eight years of minority rule. It is a well established fact that all elections, national and regional, were blatantly and massively rigged by the PNC regime in order to perpetuate its life in government.
I propose in this article to focus on the factors that led to the return of democracy to Guyana and the impact of such renewal on the socio-economic and political life of the country.
It would be useful to make mention of the fact that the democratic reforms which took place during the elections of October 5, 1992 did not come about as a result of the altruistic intentions of the then PNC regime, but due to intense pressures both from the democratic forces within the country led by the PPP and from the international donor community led by the Carter Centre. The cumulative effects of these two forces forced the PNC to grudgingly cave in to demands for democratic elections which resulted in the end of dictatorial rule and the dawn of a new day in the body-politic of the country.
The PPP became the main victim of the democratic rupture which took place in the elections of 1968, a mere one year after the PNC kicked out its junior coalition partner, the United Force, but only after it had taken total control of the electoral machinery of the state, including that of the Elections Commission.
It is pertinent to note also that in the elections of 1964, the PPP was engineered out of office by Anglo-American vested interests. Actually, the United States administration applied pressure on Britain not to grant political independence to the colony of British Guiana under the leftist PPP government. Buckling under pressure, the British government introduced a new electoral system of Proportional Representation which replaced the First-past-the Post or Constituency model which saw the PPP winning a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly in the 1961 general elections even though it failed to win a majority of the popular votes.
The plan hatched by Anglo-American vested interests in collaboration with local reactionary elements worked out well, thanks to a combination of racial tension and other acts of political destabilization fomented by opposition elements with support from the CIA and other reactionary overseas bodies. Space will not permit a detailed exposition of the intrigues and political machinations that led to the removal of the PPP from the seat of government in 1964. Suffice it to say that the country suffered immensely from the democratic ruptures that followed from the institutionalization of one-party rule and the suppression of fundamental human rights which included the right to elect a government of one’s choice.
It is indeed a sad narrative of failed governance that spawned the entire period of PNC misrule which led not only to the impoverishment of the Guyanese people, but at a more fundamental level, to the degeneration of the nation-state to a point where the country was reduced to almost the poorest country in the western hemisphere, slightly ahead of Haiti in terms of per capita income. Guyana became a laughing stock among CARICOM nations and at one time was deemed ‘uncreditworthy” by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
It was against the above background that the struggle for free and fair elections has to be situated. The country had reached a point where the regime had become a national liability and a brake on the country’s development. The PPP and other democratic forces formed a broad alliance, the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) which comprised a number of political parties, civil society organizations and prominent individuals which, along with the Carter Centre and other international donor agencies, turned on the political heat on the PNC regime which forced Hoyte, then President, to agree on democratic reforms. (Hoyte replaced Forbes Burnham as Executive President following his demise in August 1985).
National and regional elections which were constitutionally due in 1990 were postponed by two years to allow for a new Voters List and other democratic changes to the elections process. The most significant of these changes were a new Elections Commission made up of an equal number of representatives from the government and opposition sides, a new voters’ list, and the counting of votes at the place of poll.  Hoyte refused to agree on the latter, on the ground that it would be a “logistical nightmare” to count votes at the place of poll!
Elections held on October 5, 1992, as widely anticipated, led to the end of PNC dictatorial rule and the election to office of the PPP/C.  Immediately prior to the  1992 elections, the PPP entered into an alliance with a group of individuals from civil society made up of intellectuals, businessmen and other members of civil society, some of whom were active in the PCD. Dr. Cheddi Jagan became Guyana’s first democratically elected Executive President and Mr. Samuel Hinds from the Civic component became Prime Minister, a position which he continues to hold until this day.
The PPP/C, despite predictions by Hoyte that the new government could not survive one year in office, is this month celebrating twenty-one years in office, having won successive elections in certified free and fair elections. During this period, the Presidency changed hands following the death of Dr. Jagan in 1997 to his wife Janet Jagan, and following her passing, to Mr. Samuel Hinds, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Mr. Donald Ramotar, who is the current President after the PPP/C won the elections in the November 2011 general and regional elections.
One common denominator of all the Presidents that served at the helm of the PPP/C administration was their ability to take the country along the development continuum as the country soars to higher and higher levels of achievement and recognition as a proud member of the international community.
Congratulations are in order for His Excellency President Donald Ramotar, all former presidents of the PPP/C government, Cabinet Members, both present and past, the leadership and entire membership of the ruling PPP and all those who have contributed in one way or the other to the growth and development of this beautiful and great country of ours.
Hydar Ally

 

 

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