Dr. Cheddi Jagan lived what he preached

Feb 01, 2018 Letters

---

Dear Sir,
Dr. Cheddi Jagan was known to be a man of the people. When he was declared the winner of the Central Demerara constituency in the 1947 general election, he said, ”We, the people, have won.” Forty-five years later, on October 9, 1992 after his historic victory in the elections of October 5, 1992, he once again said that the Guyanese people had won.
It is important to recall that in 1948 after the shooting of the Enmore Martyrs, he pledged to dedicate his entire life to fight against exploitation and bondage. In the election of 1953, after struggling for and attaining universal adult suffrage his party, the PPP, won an overwhelming victory winning 18 out of 24 seats. That was an expression of national, racial, ethnic and working class unity.
After Guyana attained independence in 1966, he wrote in his book “The West on Trial” the following: “The struggle will be long and hard; sacrifices there will be many, but time and history is on our side and win we shall.”
The results of the October 5, 1992 elections had vindicated what was said in 1966 despite the fact that there were many who had literally written him off after some twenty-eight years in the political wilderness.
The PPP went into the 1992 elections with the slogan ” Time to Change: Time to Rebuild.” The long awaited change has finally arrived and it was time to start the rebuilding process.
Dr. Jagan realized that the rebuilding process would require the efforts of all Guyanese regardless of race, religion or political affiliation. I thought of reproducing what was said by Dr. Jagan during his swearing in ceremony on October 9, 1992.
“In this exciting adventure, I expect the fullest cooperation not only of our many friendly countries and our overseas brothers and sisters, but also the progressively minded personalities and organizations, investors, experts and advisors.
“We do so without rancor, without recrimination, without victimization, without in any way trying to cast blame. In this regard, I hope to develop a constructive relationship with Mr. Desmond Hoyte and the leadership of all parties in order to deepen our democratic process and accelerate our economic development.”
Regrettably, such sentiments were not reciprocal by the political opposition led by Desmond Hoyte. After dismissing the PPP victory as temporary and short-lived, Hoyte went on to dedicate his entire life to get Dr. Jagan out of power. Several street protests and disturbances took place to bring the government to its knees.
The PPP was never interested in settling political scores or opening old wounds as seem to be the case of the current APNU-AFC administration. Despite the several injustices meted out to him in the past, Dr. Jagan never sought revenge.
In April 1990, in his presence in the city of New York, the famous adviser to President John F Kennedy, Arthur Schensiger, who was instrumental in putting Burnham in power admitted that US policy towards Guyana was flawed and that he was sorry for what he had done thirty years ago and that a ‘great injustice was done to Dr. Jagan.’
Even among Caribbean leaders, Dr. Jagan was given the cold shoulders during the dark days of rigged elections and authoritarian rule. There were no alternative in Guyana, some remarked. Others took the position that better rigged elections than no elections. In other words, even if Dr. Jagan and the PPP would win a free and fair election, it was better with Hoyte in power even through rigged elections.
The tide changed when in February 1990, President George Bush in a Republic Day Message to President Hoyte said that he hoped that the upcoming elections would be held according to the norms of democracy cherished by the peoples of the USA and Guyana.
By the end of 1990, things began to move swiftly in favour of democracy and democratic renewal. The United States, through the Carter Centre and other western powers began to play a bigger role in the democratization processes. President Carter visited the country and met with key stakeholders including President Hoyte and the political opposition.
Based on discussions with the political opposition, a menu of measures were put to Hoyte by President Carter. Among these were a new voters list, an end to overseas vote, a new and independent elections commission and last but by no means least the counting of votes at the place of poll.
Hoyte resisted the counting of votes at the place of poll which he described as a ‘logistical nightmare.’ However, after much arm-twisting and threats of withdrawal of US and western donor support to the country, Hoyte reluctantly agreed to electoral reforms including the counting of votes at the place of poll.
As predicted, the October 5 1992 elections saw an end to undemocratic rule and ushered in the dawn of a new day. Dr. Jagan was sworn in as the first democratically Executive President in post-colonial Guyana.
The PPP and its Civic partner continued to win all subsequent elections until May 2015 when the APNU-AFC coalition assumed office in highly questionable elections.
Hydar Ally

---

---