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Dr. Jagan was quintessentially a democrat and a developmentalist
Dear Editor,
March 6, 2024 marks twenty-eight years since the passing of former President and founder-member of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr. Cheddi Jagan.
Several individuals have proferred varying views on Dr. Jagan and his role in the politics of Guyana. There are some who felt that Dr. Jagan was responsible for the PPP losing political power in the 1964 and subsequent elections by embracing an ideology that did not sit well with Washington. I beg to differ. Dr. Jagan was quintessentially a democrat and a developmentalist and, as far as I know, did he at any time advocate a system of governance that was at odds with western values of multi-party democracy, a market-driven economy and ideological pluralism.
The records will show that Dr. Jagan during the early PPP administrations encouraged private sector development through the establishment of manufacturing hubs and other incentives to the private sector. After the PPP/C administration assumed power in 1992, Dr. Jagan referred to the private sector as ‘the engine of growth’ and encouraged a tri-sectoral economy with the private sector playing a lead role.
It is true that he stood at the left of the ideological spectrum but that did not make him a ‘communist’ or in any way diminished his popularity among the masses in Guyana. In fact, Dr. Jagan and the PPP became the first ‘leftist’ party in the western hemisphere to have won political office through constitutional means in the 1953 elections, the first that was held under universal adult suffrage.
The fact that the constitution of Guyana was suspended by the British Government soon after the 1953 elections cannot be blamed on Dr. Jagan who was popularly elected, having won 18 out of the 24 seats. Nor can Dr. Jagan and the PPP be blamed for the imposition of Proportional Representation (PR) which led to the removal of the PPP from office in the 1964 elections despite the fact that the PPP won a plurality of the votes. All subsequent elections were blatantly and massively rigged by the PNC until October 1992 when democracy was finally returned to the country, thanks to the intervention of the Carter Centre and other western powers.
In hindsight, it is fair to conclude that a mistake was made by the United States in its assessment of Dr. Jagan, whose patriotism and nationalism was misconstrued as ‘communistic’. This acknowledgement was made by no less a person than Arthur Schlesinger, who later admitted that an injustice was done to Dr. Jagan by the then US State Department. In fact, it was Schlesinger who, in his capacity as Advisor to President Kennedy suggested to the President ‘that an independent British Guiana under Forbes Burnham would pose fewer problems to the United States than an independent British Guiana under Forbes Burnham’.
The rest is now history. Burnham not only broke off relations with the United States during the late 1970’s but rigged all national and regional elections until October 1992 when democratic elections were held after an absence of some twenty-eight years. The country experienced prolonged economic and social decline to a point where Guyana was regarded at one point as the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Indeed, whatever progress the country experienced was made under the PPP administration.
Yet there are some who continue to cast blame on Dr. Jagan for what they felt was his failure to understand the geo-political realities of the hemisphere. In other words, the ‘victim’ is being blamed for the actions of those who aided and abetted the subversion of the democratic culture of the country. Dr. Jagan’s role in the struggle for independence and for a free and democratic Guyana is legendary. His vision for a better and more humane society continues to influence the thinking and policy-orientation of all subsequent PPP/C administrations. Vision, it is said, is the ability to beyond the immediate. In this regard, Dr. Jagan’s call for a New Global Human Order, debt relief for impoverished nations, a regional development fund, sustainable environment and world peace has found resonance with millions of people around the world.
Regards,
Hydar Ally
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