…says Minister Dr. Frank Anthony at launch of the late President’s speeches
SEVEN volumes of speeches made by the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan, in the National Assembly, were launched Thursday, on the 94th birth anniversary of this great leader, who was widely regarded as the ‘Father of the Nation’. The inspiration for this project came from Resolution #46 passed by the National Assembly on December 14, 2007. It was a resolution that came to the National Assembly to recognise the profound contributions made by Dr. Jagan to development, democratisation, and transformation of our country.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, at the launching in the Parliament Chambers of the Public Buildings, in Georgetown, said these volumes (1947-1987), capture Dr. Jagan’s passion and his quest to help the oppressed, the exploited and the downtrodden, and showed how his political actions were always directed at eliminating this scourge from our society.
Dr. Jagan entered the fourth Legislative Council of the then British Guiana on December 18, 1947, and had a very long and dedicated career as a Parliamentarian, until 1992.
“During this period, he had consistently displayed unquestionable loyalty to his country and his people whom he served with undiluted resolute and unshakeable devotion for 45 years in these chambers,” Anthony said.
He said, over those years, Dr. Jagan would have shaped the political consciousness and steered the political will of our people to fight for independence, democracy, and social justice.
“As you read these volumes, you can hear the voice of a man who, against tremendous odds, and tremendous difficulties, championing the cause for national unity and for pro-people policies,” the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament insisted.
“These volumes, taken together, will give us a renewed insight into the life and work of Dr. Jagan,” he said, and noted that the Caribbean Press of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is very honoured to have collaborated with Parliament to publish these outstanding speeches.
Having completed a special edition of the Hansard, it was placed in the library as was required by the Resolution, he noted, but “we thought we could go a step further and publish these Hansards as books” and make them not only accessible to the Parliamentarians, but also to the wider public.
President Donald Ramotar, delivering the feature address at the launch, said by presenting these speeches of Dr. Jagan in the National Assembly, people, including the future generations, can have an idea of the conditions that he worked under and the times that he had to struggle for.
“I think it is an important event also, because most of the history that we have of our country has been written by the colonial masters, and only now we are beginning to have the story being told from Guyana’s point of view.”
And Cheddi Jagan was one of the most qualified to speak about these stories, because he had been involved in our political life from the 1940s and I dare say, he is still involved in our political life today because of his influence on many people throughout our country.
“These volumes are the direct words of Cheddi Jagan and here we have gone right to the source of many of the events that had been happening in Guyana,” he said, noting that Dr. Jagan was a great communicator.
He pointed out that the seven volumes of speeches in Parliament is not a complete set of speeches that Dr. Jagan made in the National Assembly since there are still some years missing.
“I hope the clerk and staff can find some of these so that we can add more volumes to his speeches.”
President Ramotar reiterated that Dr. Jagan was a powerful communicator, who used “every means at his disposal to get his views out.”
Also, he touched on Dr. Jagan’s tremendous ability to communicate some of the most sophisticated ideas and most difficult and complicated issues, noting that he could have articulated them for anyone to understand.
Ramotar said his father, who was a strong PPP supporter, had subscribed to the Mirror, recalling, “And even at that young age, I used to look forward to reading Straight Talk by Cheddi Jagan and I could have understood him even as a young boy, and on reflection of my life, I think probably those writings of Cheddi Jagan were the most influential in guiding me along a political path.”
He conceded that Dr. Jagan had a very great impact on many other people, noting, “The important thing though is that we are beginning now to accumulate the writings of people who had a great influence on all of our lives.”
“I hope that this is a trend that will continue that we can print more and more of the speeches, as we have resources available, about what took place in this National Assembly. This Assembly was the battleground of ideas, the battleground of programmes,” he insisted.
The Head of State said Dr. Jagan did not only criticise, but he also proposed solutions to problems.
He joined in thanking all those who participated in making the project possible, and making it available to all, “not only for us today but for future generations.”
Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, in brief remarks, said the launch of this publication of Dr. Jagan speeches in the Parliament Chamber “comes at a time when all of Guyana needs to hear the voices of our past leaders and to be able to identify with their vision for national unity and for national development.”
“It is very appropriate, I feel, that this event is taking place on his birthday…and in this parliament chamber, a place where, undoubtedly, I feel that he, more than any other Member of Parliament, made the greatest mark,” he said.
Dr. Jagan, he said, in his view, has dominated and shaped the discourse and flow of national events in his time, more than any other person.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, said he has consented to do the introductory comment on the publication to follow, as per the Resolution #46 passed by the National Assembly, for the speeches of late President Forbes Burnham.
Professor David Dabydeen, editor of the publication said, Dr. Jagan “emerges as a man completely concerned with the conditions of the poor”, and it was a privilege for him to work on his speeches.
The books were published by the Caribbean Press, and edited by Professor David Dabydeen and Lynne Macedo.
Copies of the books were also handed over to daughter of the late Presidents Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Mrs. Janet Jagan, Nadira Jagan-Branciers and their grandson, Cheddi Jagan III, and also to President Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, the Speaker and representatives of the National Library, University of Guyana, National Archives, the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union.
Dr. Jagan, who was born, 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.