OCTOBER 5, 2012 marks 20 years since that historic day when democracy was returned to Guyana after some twenty-eight years of undemocratic and dictatorial rule. Guyanese under twenty years of age would not have been born during those sordid years and a significant number of young people are too young to remember what life was like during those painful years. However, for the majority of Guyanese who lived through that period, it was a virtual nightmare to provide for themselves and their families due to mismanagement and incompetence of the then PNC regime. It is perhaps necessary to provide some background as to the factors that led in the first place to the emergence of dictatorial rule especially for the younger generation, many of whom are unaware of our past history and of the trials, tribulations and intrigues that dogged our political evolution. Most Guyanese today take for granted our right to vote but this was not always the case and the electorate of this country was forced for over two decades to endure a farce that was called national and regional elections.
So pervasive was the electoral fraud that it affected all strata of society including village elections in Amerindian communities. Not even religious organisations were spared the manipulative arms of the state which led to the formation of parallel organisations as in the case of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha under the leadership of Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud and the United Sadr Islamic Anjuman led by Moulvi Yacoob Ally both of whom were known to be leading members of the PPP.
The genesis of undemocratic rule in post-independent Guyana resulted from Anglo-American intrigues which along with local reactionary groups conspired to remove the popular and democratically elected PPP from power in the elections of 1964. It must be said for the records that the PPP was never defeated in the elections of 1964 but in the words of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan it was ‘cheated and not defeated’, in clear reference to the fact that the removal of the PPP from government was a studied and well orchestrated plot by the colonial government under pressure from the United States to remove the PPP from office.
Space will not allow me to provide the details of what could be described as a great betrayal by the west. Suffice it to say that the removal of the PPP from office in 1964 proved to be a turning point in the country’s march towards constitutional rule and democratic governance. One of the first acts of the PNC was to kick out its junior coalition partner, the United Force but only after it had consolidated itself in power by taking control of the electoral machinery. The Elections Commission was dominated by pro-PNC members who did everything possible to the return of PNC to power in the ‘elections’ of 1968.
It is to the lasting shame of the PNC that the constitutional advances made after robust representation by the PPP for the right to vote and the introduction of the ministerial system of government that such rights were systematically taken away from the Guyanese people. It is common knowledge that all elections since 1968 were flagrantly and blatantly rigged by the PNC to perpetuate its life in government. It was not until the early 1990’s after the intervention of the Carter Centre and the direct involvement of former US President Jimmy Carter that the dynamics of power changed paving the way for the holding of free and fair elections.
It must be said for the records that the holding of democratic elections did not come about without strong resistance by the PNC under the then leadership of Desmond Hoyte who refused to agree on a critical demand from the Carter Centre, namely that the counting of ballots be done at the place of poll. Hoyte described the counting of ballots at the place of poll a “logistical nightmare” and refused to concede. It took much arm-twisting on the part of the President Carter before Hoyte finally agreed to count the votes at the place of poll along with some other opposition demands including the composition of the Elections Commission which hitherto was heavily biased in favour of the PNC.
With the opposition demands being largely met, including the counting of votes at the place of poll, the elections results became a forgone conclusion. The PPP won the elections by a comfortable majority, and Dr. Cheddi Jagan became the first democratically elected Executive President of Guyana.
Since then, Guyana has advanced steadily and has now become once again one of the showpieces of the Caribbean in terms of democratic and good governance. From one of the poorest country in the western hemisphere the country has now graduated to middle income status thanks to sustained economic growth and sound monetary and fiscal management.
The PPP/C administration must be given credit for having taken this once backward country to one of peace, progress and prosperity.