A brief history of money power in Guyanese political parties

Nov 16, 2020 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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It is unfortunate for Guyana that its political culture continue to stagnate as we see with the current implosion in one of the constituents -The New Movement (TNM) – the collective third force that contested the 2020 election and won a collective parliamentary seat with two other organizations.
One of the causes for the infighting we are told is that the chief financier flexed his muscle to get his own way. TNM was formed by young professionals who had zero experience in politics. Just a little bit of exposure could have avoided the wielding of money power if the accusation is correct.
When a political party in Guyana is born, there is a rich history from which the founders can draw as to how power is to be shared and to prevent “one-manism” through that one person using the power of the purse. The constitution should be so unambiguous that it prevents anyone with unlimited resources from dominating the structure.
Money and party politics have evolved as twins in the history of Guyana. No political party was ever born in this country without its founders being people with high, middle-class status and reasonable wealth. In all those formations, those with money led the leadership. The first attempt at politically organizing the masses was the British Guiana Political Reform Club (BGPRC). Its constitution strictly denied leadership position for people who did not belong to the class of its founders.
The attempt to continue political work in the colony saw the birth of the British Guiana Constitution Reform Association (BGCRA) of 1887 founded by a wealthy British, Robert Drysdale, after which the street in Charlestown is named. He was the BGCRA, the BGCRA was Drysdale. Subsequent formations did not differ from the pattern of money giving birth to political movement. We had the Working Men’s Club, the BG Progressive Association and perhaps the first political party in Guyana’s history, the Popular Party of 1926 led by a White man, Nelson Cannon.
Was the pattern of money birthing political movement broken in 1946? That year saw the rise of some formidable political entities. There was the Women’s Political and Economic Organization (WPEO) in July; the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in November and the British Guiana Labour Party funded by Dr. J.B. Singh.
The answer is both yes and no. WPEO lacked money power but it was birthed by middle-class women. Top middle-class professionals formed the PAC, which became the PPP under Burnham and Jagan, though both the PAC and PPP did not have big spenders who controlled the leadership. J.B. Singh was wealthy and he was a one-man show (at the time of writing, I have not seen a copy of the biography of Singh by Guyanese scholar Baytoram Ramharack).
That the man with money controls the party and decides its shape came with the arrival of the United Force (UF) party headed by Banks DIH tycoon, Peter D’Aguiar. Rich and charismatic, D’Aguiar was the UF and the UF was D’Aguiar. With the fall of the UF as the 1960s came to a close, the PPP and the PNC became the only two features on the political landscape.
As Burnham became more tyrannical, third parties began to show up with strong consistency but the pattern on who pays the piper calls the tune did not die. Cheddi Jagan’s right hand man, Brindley Benn, financed his own party from the well patronized snackette he owned at the Berbice car park – the Working People’s Vanguard Party. One of Burnham’s trusted party loyalists, Llewellyn John, birthed the People’s Democratic Movement financed by a Charlestown oligarch named Rahaman. Medical doctor, Gunraj Kumar, after falling out with colleagues from the reduced UF, formed the Liberator Party which he dominated.
The Working People’s Alliance formed in 1974 became a political party in 1976. Its leadership atavistically returned to the 19th century where the privileged middle-class ran an organization to cater for the masses but was a tight incestuous elitist outfit. Paul Tennassee, a remigrant founded the Democratic Labour Movement. He poured his personal funds into it so he dominated it.
Paul Hardy a Guyanese businessman operating in Brazil established the Guyana Action Party. He was the sole funder. Ravi Dev established ROAR and won a parliamentary seat in national elections but Ravi was ROAR and ROAR was Ravi. Finally, in 2015, with help of funds from the American government, the Alliance For Change was born. Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan became its permanent leaders. They brought in the money so they owned the party. TNM should have done its research. In political parties, the funder is the boss.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

 

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