…says President Donald Ramotar
PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, recognizing that the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan had made a tremendous contribution to the development of Guyana, last evening said that he made the most profound impact on the political life of Guyanese. The president was delivering the lecture at the Cheddi Jagan Annual Lecture 2012 on the ‘Life and Work of the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan’ at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, in Kingston, Georgetown.
President Ramotar, who is General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, of which Dr. Jagan was the co-founder, said, “I am, indeed, very happy to be here to share a little bit of my own impressions of Comrade Cheddi Jagan – a man who made a tremendous contribution to the development of Guyana.”
“I believe I can say that he has made the most profound impact on the political life of Guyanese and the thinking of Guyanese here and wherever they are,” he said.
He said Dr. Jagan, who was widely regarded as the ‘Father of the Nation’, awakened the political consciousness of our people and led us through to many epic struggles for independence, democracy and social progress.
“The subject of Cheddi Jagan is really inexhaustible and this is so for many reasons. The work that he performed in our social and economic life, in our political life, as I said, has been profound,” he said.
He noted that Dr. Jagan was able to grasp the main issues at every point of history and came up with answers that led the country into many struggles.
“His creative approach to issues was another profound characteristic that he displayed. The most important characteristic for me was the fact that he was not only a fighter, not only an activist, not only a political leader, not only a trade unionist – but he was a profound thinker. A man who came with solutions to problems that was sometimes way ahead of his time,” he said.

He said, in Dr. Jagan’s view, economics and politics must all be united to serve people, “the working people in particular, who for him, was the most important social class in the transformation of society”.
“He saw in the working people that they have the potential to transform society to bring the new day that he worked and dedicated his whole life to,” Ramotar said.
The President said Dr. Jagan was born and grew up in an atmosphere “where things were changing and where things that seemed impossible were becoming possible for the first time”.
He said his growing social awareness led him to also study economics, noting that when Dr. Jagan graduated as a dentist in the United Sates, he simultaneously graduated with a BSc in Economics which “shows his growing search for answers and his inquisitive mind”.
He said in his fight against colonialism, Dr. Jagan was fighting for democracy as well, adding that it was always a part of the independence movement.
“In his struggle, he did a lot to lift the consciousness of the masses, to him that was important. He always felt that the national and social liberation had to be carried out by the conscious efforts of working and oppressed people – that is why he put a lot of emphasis on worker education,” he said.
The Head of State said another feature that marked his great character was his searching mind, noting, “He respected people even though he might disagree with them, and he respected and grounded with people in all walks of life.”
“He engaged working people, not only to teach them and give them information, but also to learn from them, to get their views, to understand their conditions of life and work,” President Ramotar said, pointing out that Dr. Jagan writings show “his profound and strong feelings of equality of people.”
“He believed very strongly in democracy and he expressed those views consistently throughout his time. Even from the beginning, he expressed those views that democracy was indispensable for social and economic development,” he said.
He said the late President felt that Guyana society must be a multicultural society, and he always came up with the profound innovation and ideas.
He said Jagan’s alliance politics was unique and he developed alliances all along the way in the struggle for independence and in the struggle for democracy, since he understood the importance of national unity towards social and economic development.
“In today’s world, much has changed internationally; and the world, of course, is vastly different from what it was when Comrade Cheddi carried out some of his most important works. Realizing Comrade Cheddi’s goal is now much more complicated, and yet we can do a lot to further democratize our society and to try more and more to give our people equal opportunities and a better way of life,” he said.
The President alluded to his government’s efforts to create industries, projects to create jobs, and policies that will contribute to the development of the country.
“We believe that to fulfil Comrade Cheddi Jagan’s dream, we have to give people equal opportunity,” he said, touching on investments in education, health and housing among other areas.
Ramotar said that the life of Comrade Jagan was rich and full, and also noted that he was a profound internationalist as well, concluding that, “he was indeed the father of Guyana’s nation.”
Also present at the annual event, part of a series of activities to observe the birth and death anniversaries of the late Dr. Jagan, were members of the party, ministers of the government and members of the diplomatic corps.
Dr. Jagan, was born on March 22, 1918, in the rural village of Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice, and changed the course of the country’s history by first struggling to liberate it from British colonial domination, then by waging a 28-year-long struggle for the restoration of freedom and democracy, and finally by ascending to the Presidency as Guyana’s first democratically elected Head of State. He passed away on March 6, 1997,