THE Alliance For Change (AFC) leaders such as Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan and political commentator Ralph Ramkarran are most vociferous in concluding that the present coalition between the AFC and APNU is what the late Dr Cheddi Jagan would have wanted and it represents Jagan’s vision of a National Patriotic Front Government.The most important person who can shed light on this vital issue is the man himself, Cheddi Jagan, and since he is not around anymore we have to consult his writings, namely ‘The West On Trial’.

From 1964 to 1992, the late Dr Jagan spoke of a coalition with the PNC and the forming of a National Patriotic Front Government on many different occasions to suit the diverse political and economic climate existing at the time.
For instance, on June 6th, 1964 Dr Jagan wrote to Mr Burnham saying that since the split of the PPP in 1955 it has been his desire that a coalition be formed between the PNC and the PPP and moreover, since the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that, “something dramatic must be done to prevent further racial strife between the two major ethnic groups”.

This was the 1961-64 period which saw severe strikes, beatings, burning, looting, murder and rape which culminated with the Wismar massacre. This is the situation which propelled Dr Jagan to invite Burnham to form a coalition. Burnham bluntly refused this invitation since the machinery was in place to install him as the next Prime Minister. This scenario does not exist today.
Then the ‘critical support’ in 1975 came at a time when Guyana’s territorial integrity was threatened by Venezuela. Dr Jagan then offered critical support but Mr Burnham later said this support was “more critical than supportive”. Dr Jagan had made it clear that he was willing to support issues which are socially and economically beneficial to the country and its people. This is a lot different from what APNU and the AFC did since the 2011 elections.
They have stymied social and economic development to the extent that they have cut many projects which they themselves have in their manifestos. Would Jagan have done this?
Then in 1976, when Burnham started to play the Socialist game, Dr Jagan again made a proposal for a National Patriotic Front Government which “will be based on a democratic, anti-imperialist and socialist-orientated programme”. Jagan’s main focus was an uncompromising struggle against imperialist exploitation and the achieving of that ‘revolution’ from imperialism to socialism. This again was rejected by Burnham. Note that at this time the coalition’s objective would have been to bring imperialism to an end and foster a socialist revolution. This was again rejected and Burnham accused Jagan of using the coalition as a means of ‘sharing power’.
Then later on Dr Jagan again made a proposal for a National Patriotic Front Government but this time he did not ‘demand ideological conformity’.

He made it clear that, “in the National Patriotic Front, there is place for Communists and non-Communists…but no room for anti-Communists”. This was again rejected by Burnham who repeated his conclusion that Jagan is only interested in power sharing.
It can be deduced that these later attempts to form a National Patriotic Front by Jagan was in the national interest and his belief that the Communist or Socialist was the best for Guyana. It must be noted that the late Dr Jagan always put his country first.
However, Burnham was never interested in power sharing since his well-oiled, rigging machinery will ensure that he remained in power and although there were further talks between Jagan and Burnham until his death in 1985, Burnham was only using Jagan to get whatever economic assistance he could get from the Socialist and Communist countries since the country was already bankrupt. Burnham was the ‘master chameleon’.
After Burnham’s death Hoyte refused Jagan’s idea of a National Patriotic Front Government and massively rigged the 1985 elections.
Jagan then pursued a national front government with other parties, groups, organisations which gave birth to the ‘Civic’ component of the PPP. This was the closest that Jagan came to realising his vision of a national front Government. That component still exists today.
Therefore, to say that this present coalition is the vision of Dr Jagan is to insult what he stood for. Jagan had envisioned a National Patriotic Government where ‘winner does not take all’ and that means the inclusion of the major ethnic groups. Can we say that the present coalition is configured along that line? Absolutely not! Until now civil society, the religious communities and the trade unions have been disregarded. Moreover, this can never happen without the inclusion of the PPP. Therefore the true intention of the coalition is to exclude the PPP and to depose of the PPP in order to get power. It is not about putting Guyana first. Putting Guyana first is Cheddi Jagan’s legacy and vision, not this power play which is so blatantly being propagated by the AFC and APNU! The game plan of AFC and APNU was revealed on a piece-meal basis since 2011 and culminated with the no-confidence motion.
Lastly, Dr Joey Jagan should not be talking about Jagan’s legacy since he spurned that legacy many times and openly challenged that legacy many times and deviated from that legacy many times. He resigned his seat in Parliament in 1997, he resigned from the PPP at that time, and he founded the United Party of Guyana – a pro-capitalist party. This is the complete opposite of the ideology which his father believed in. Then in 2006 he joined with others to form the Third Force but returned to the PPP in 2011 and claimed that he will dispel the “dispersions and outright fabrications of Moses Nagamootoo”. He further claimed that Moses was abandoning the “very nature and good of the Cheddi Jagan legacy”. Today, he is once again on the opposite side, this time he is supporting a coalition which is directly aimed at power grabbing and power sharing. Not once did the Opposition support the developmental plans of the Government. They deliberately cut the budget over the last three years to show that the country is not progressing under the PPP/C and that they can do better.
Cheddi had said that, ‘we are prepared to sit together with all truly democratic, progressive and left forces to hammer out a common minimum programme for the attainment of our national goals and our people’s aspirations’. But sadly the coalition comprising APNU and AFC have sat together to hammer out their personal goals and aspirations, namely, who must get what! Is this Jagan’s legacy?
It is people like Moses an Ramjattan who should be ashamed to invoke the legacy of Dr Jagan!
HASEEF YUSUF