THERE was a time not so long ago when Guyana was regarded as a failed State by the international community. There was no democracy; all national and regional elections were massively rigged. All freedoms were taken away including the right to free speech and freedom of assembly. Those who dared to stand up for their rights and that of the Guyanese people were harassed, beaten, tortured, jailed or even murdered.

The country became one of the poorest in the hemisphere. People were leaving by droves in order to seek a better life. Many who remained were pushed into the underground economy in order to survive. There was massive food shortages and hunger stalked the land.

Our education system was completely destroyed and our Guyanese students were underperforming at both regional and local examinations. The same was true for the health system which was also tethering on the brink of collapse. There was no housing programme and squatting became the norm.

All of that changed on October 5, 1992 when democracy was finally restored to the country after an absence of twenty-eight years. For the first time in our post-independence history our votes were counted. A new day had arrived and the country for the first time in decades breathed a fresh air of freedom and democracy.

The new PPP/C Administration under the leadership of Dr. Cheddi Jagan began the hard work to rebuild the country from the ruins of the past. Under the theme ‘Time for Change: Time to Rebuild’ the new administration commenced the rebuilding process with an empty treasury and debt-ridden economy. What it had in abundance however was the strong support of the Guyanese people and expressions of goodwill from the international and donor community which together with strong, visionary and committed leadership started the process of changing the narrative of the country.

And what a change in the country’s narrative, the country has changed its past baggage as a pariah nation and has joined the ranks of free, independent and democratic states. Indeed, it has now become a respected member of the international community having carved out its own niche as a country that has embraced a low carbon development strategy of development which has not only earned the country much international recognition but also substantial development assistance from the Government of Norway.

Guyana has not forgotten where it came from and is one of the few countries in the world that successfully piloted a motion at the United Nations General Assembly calling for a New Global Human Order, the brainchild of Guyana’s first democratically elected Executive President and pro-poor advocate, Dr. Cheddi Jagan.

Guyana has now upgraded it status from a poor country to a middle income country. The country now boasts an education system that is comparable to any in the Region bringing out top performers at the CXC examinations on a consistent basis. We are no longer at the bottom of the performance ladder and the education performance gap between Guyana and its regional counterparts have been significantly narrowed.

The country is now experiencing growth after several decades of negative growth under the previous PNC regime. The debt burden has been reduced to manageable proportions and the country’s economic fundamentals remain solid and are displaying positive trends.

What is even more commendable is the ability of the economy to remain resilient even in the face of unstable prices for major exports in particular sugar, rice and gold. The fact that the Government has been able to subsidise these industries speaks to the extent to which the economy has become diversified and much more broad-based as opposed to reliance on a limited range of exports as in the past.

The service sector and non-traditional exports are now a significant contributor to the country’s GDP. This is quite an achievement considering our past economic history in which the viability of the country was dependent mainly on the export of sugar.

Regrettably, the full potential of our country is still to be realised. This will continue to be a challenge especially given our political make up which tended to militate against our developmental efforts.

The combined political Opposition has taken this challenge to a new level in which effective governance has now become a nightmare because of the one seat advantage they enjoy in Parliament over the ruling party.

The way out of this political conundrum is a new mandate to govern by the Guyanese people, one in which the ruling PPP/C Administration would be able to continue to change the narrative of our development from poverty and backwardness to progress and prosperity.

HYDAR ALLY