Burnham tore apart the fabric of democracy, economic and social decay followed

Mar 02, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

Guyana has recently observed 53 years of republican status. It also coincided with the 100th birth anniversary of former President Forbes Burnham. Burnham was at the political helm both at the time of the conferral of independence and republican status. As to whether Burnham’s birth anniversary and our Republic celebrations were coincidental is not really important or material, even though given Burnham’s proclivity for ego gratification, it may not be one of sheer coincidence.

To say that Burnham played a contributory role in the underdevelopment of Guyana during the immediate post-independence period would be an understatement. Burnham was in fact the architect of Guyana’s economic and social decline, which at the time of his passing had reduced the country to the poorest in the western hemisphere, and among the least developed in the world!

One of the main reasons for the difficult situation in which the country found itself was the rupture of the democratic fabric of the country. It is an established fact that all elections since 1968 were blatantly rigged by the PNC, which resulted in a deep political crisis, the likes of which had never been experienced in the Anglo-phone Caribbean. The political crisis gave rise to an economic crisis which in turn resulted in a severe social crisis. For a significant period, the country experienced negative economic growth, which only served to make a bad situation worse. Guyanese were experiencing hell to make ends meet and many were forced into the underground economy in order to survive. The point in all of this is that there is a dialectical relationship between the political system and the other sub-systems including the economic, social and cultural. The political system impacts on all aspects of life. Hence the importance of fixing the system in a way that it optimizes the full developmental potential of the country and its people.

One can be charitable and give some credit to Burnham for the role Guyana played in the non-aligned movement and the anti-imperialist struggle at that time for which the PPP rendered ‘critical support’. There are, however, many who saw such overtures as merely self-serving and a political smokescreen to institutionalize dictatorial rule. During that period, even in the midst of a severe economic crisis, the country had a bloated foreign service which, along with the Office of the President and the military, was consuming more financial resources than education, health, housing, agriculture and water combined.

It is important that Burnham be placed in a proper historical context, especially in light of recent attempts by some people to glorify his contribution to Guyana’s political evolution. His split from the PPP in 1955 and the subsequent rupture of the democratic fabric of the country remain until this day an unfortunate, if not dark moment, in our political landscape.

Fortunately, we have moved past that depressing era, but ‘Burnhamism’ as a political philosophy where the capture of state power by undemocratic and Machiavellian means should never be allowed to again raise its ugly head. The way forward for Guyana is through, free, fair and democratic elections and constitutional governance. Any departure from such norms is fraught with danger.

Yours faithfully,

Hydar Ally

Democracy, Economic, Guyana, Hydar Ally, social decay

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