— President vows
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has declared that the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic will not implode with the death of its monumental co-founders — former Presidents Cheddi and Janet Jagan – and it will stay the course they charted almost 65 years ago.

His rallying call to thousands of party supporters at the cremation Tuesday of Mrs. Jagan was triggered by projections by PPP/C detractors that it could suffer without a Jagan at the helm.

“…let me say to all of our detractors that this party will grow from strength to strength, guided by the ideals of these wonderful people, these extraordinary people”, he vowed to applause from the gathering at the Babu John cemetery in Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice.

Mrs. Jagan, 88, died early Saturday morning at the Georgetown Hospital where she was admitted late Friday afternoon with abdominal pain. She was cremated at the site of her husband’s cremation after his death from a heart attack on March 6, 1997.

At the Babu John farewell, following similar stirring tributes at ceremonies at Parliament Buildings and PPP Freedom House headquarters in Georgetown, President Jagdeo said that since Mrs. Jagan’s death, some newspapers and analysts felt that the party will implode without a Jagan in its leadership now.

“…the Jagans are not just personalities – they are ideals, they are principles and therefore although they are not there in living flesh they will continue to guide this party long into the future and we have to make sure that their legacy does not fall by the wayside”, he said.

He referred to the more than 60 years of service Janet gave the nation and asked supporters, “What are you prepared to give so that her memories and the memories of Cheddi Jagan remain evergreen?”

“How are you going to help so that their legacy to the people of this country is never forgotten? Are you going to ensure that your children understand the difficulties they had…in the colonial period and then in the period when we were in opposition under the dictatorship?”

He pleaded: “Do your children, many of them who grow up today without a sense of history, really understand what Cheddi and Janet Jagan stood for? Are you going to ensure that this happens?”

The President added that the party is not perfect but it’s Cheddi’s and Janet Jagan’s party and their ideals will not perish.

“Although they were strong personalities, they built their party beyond personalities; they built it on principles and the PPP today will be moving forward, will continue to serve the people of this country so that the legacy of Cheddi and Janet Jagan lives on”, he said.

He recalled that at the March 1 annual observances at Babu John for Cheddi, he called for all to join in the enterprise of nation-building started by Cheddi and Janet Jagan which has not ended.

“We have to make sure that we move it forward – the only way it could move forward is if all of us work at this together”, he stated.

Mr. Jagdeo reiterated that the PPP/C will never become parochial nor allow people’s race, religion or class to matter.

The party will be open to all Guyanese, he stressed, maintaining that it will continue to work for the national unity ideals the Jagans embarked on.

“Our party is open to everyone and we have to ensure that we keep it that way. I urge you to support us again in this venture. It is going to be a long road but the party is strong”, he said.

The President said, “We all have to aspire to get close to these personalities because they are so dominant, they were so unique, this pair of people.”

“They struggled so much for us that their contribution will remain unmatched when we write the history of this land. We all have to work towards this ideal.”