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Our dignity & pride as a people are being restored

Oct 12, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
It was a very emotional experience on Monday last, October 5, 2015, to share the 58th Anniversary of the founding of People National Congress at Sophia. It included a Flag Raising and a stirring address by our Leader Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Recall, the time when we had already passed through a period of  our earlier Leaders, Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, JP Latchmansingh, Sydney King, Ashton Chase, Jainarine Singh and many young ‘turks’ like myself had seen the 1953 Elections  This was the first time that universal adult suffrage became a reality.
This allowed every citizen to vote putting aside the qualification of a high salary or property. In other words, there were no pre-qualifications such as ownership of property, the amount of money earned that determined the right to vote. Unhappily, there was the split in the PPP Leadership after the British suspended our Constitution. The British set up an Interim Government.
Then came the 1957 Elections held on the 12th August.
Two PPPs contested the Elections. One led by Cheddi Jagan, the other led by Forbes Burnham [ PPP Jaganite, PPP Burnhamnite].
Those elections came in the aftermath of an unhappy campaign, in which this dirty racist phrase of (Apan Jat) emerged; it was a significant factor apart from this divisive development, there was some confusion since there were six Elections symbols naming the parties, the Aeroplane, the Basket, the Fish, the Arrow and Bow, the Bird and the Tree.
There existed also some concerns related to the identification of Polling Places.
In the interior areas there were only six  Polling Places particularly in the ‘diamond fields’ and so a lot of Burnham supporters did not have an opportunity to exercise their franchise.
It is interesting to note that period (1957), those who made it to the Legislative Assembly, were:-
– Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham
– Cheddi Jagan
– W.O.Rudy Kendall,
–  Ajodha Singh
– S.M Saffee,
– Etwaroo Beharry
– Balram Singh Rai
– Andrew L Jackson.
– Jainarine Singh
– Fred. Bowman,
– Ramkarran,
– Brindley.H. Benn
– Janet Jagan,
– Stephen Campbell.
After the Elections, it was generally understood that to continue with two PPPs – one ‘Jaganite,’ one ‘Burnhamnite,’ made no sense, and so after much deliberations, influenced by parties both in the Indian subcontinent and Africa, plus the need to embrace all of our people, we came up with the name People’s National Congress with the Red, Green and Black design, the white circle in the middle carrying the Palm Tree.
We look forward to the party with its coalition partners fulfilling the dreams of those fourteen elected to the National Assembly in 1957 APNU –AFC to forge a strong united country where human dignity is maintained.
The next day at the Investiture Ceremony held at the National Cultural Centre, we saw evidence that our dignity and pride as a people are being restored under the astute leadership of David Arthur Granger.
Hamilton Green

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