GUYANA, today, celebrates 56 years as an independent state, after over 150 years of British colonial rule. It is important to put the independence struggle in its historical context, especially in light of divergent, and, in some cases, conflicting narratives of the contributions made by our political leaders, both prior to and during the course of the conferral of independence status by Great Britain.

For context, under Mr Burnham’s leadership, Guyana experienced a rupture in its democratic system, particularly, during the post-independence period, which saw the country being made a ‘pariah’ state and one of the poorest in the western hemisphere. This historical context is important.

It is true that political independence was granted to the country under the PNC-UF coalition, headed by Mr Burnham, but that did not, in any way, negate the reactionary role he played, in collaboration with external allies, in denying political independence to the then-colony under the Jagan-led PPP administration before 1964. Indeed, the records will show that Guyana’s former colonial master, under pressure from a western ally, deliberately denied independence to the colony.

It would not be possible in this editorial to deal adequately with all the nuances and intrigues that led to the deferral of Guyana’s political independence except to say that the period antecedent to the granting of independence was marked by political and ethnic disturbances engineered by the then political opposition, aided and abetted by foreign vested interests. According to Arthur Schlesinger Jnr., then presidential adviser to President Kennedy, the United States then blundered when it proceeded on the assumption that an independent Guyana under Mr Burnham would cause their country fewer problems than an independent Guyana under Dr Jagan who was perceived as a ‘leftist’ with strong ‘communist’ leanings.

To say that this was a gravely miscalculated assessment of Dr Jagan and the PPP is to put it mildly. Whatever else can be said about Dr Jagan, he was essentially a democratic thinker with a strong passion for independence and national development. Indeed, it was that unyielding passion for an independent Guyana that led him to collaborate with prominent stakeholders then to come up with an electoral formula after a deadlock had been reached by the three main political parties: the PPP, the PNC, and the United Force. The hope was a constituency model, which mimicked the British and Commonwealth system, would have been undertaken.

In the end, the then political opposition’s demands were given prominence, and a proportional representation system imposed. Elections held in 1964 under the PR model saw a PNC-UF coalition government despite the fact that the PPP won the plurality of votes and, in keeping with parliamentary norms, should have been asked to form the government.

All of that is now, as it were, water under the bridge. And after twenty-eight years of PNC dictatorial rule, democracy was finally restored to Guyana and Dr Jagan and the PPP/C was duly elected to office on October 5, 1992. In a real sense, Guyana, for the first time since national independence, began to breathe the fresh air of democracy and freedom.

It was the United States, as a development ally of Guyana, that was instrumental in the return of democracy along with the Carter Centre in 1992. Both partners were again compelled to repeat their support, some three decades later, after the APNU+AFC attempted, unsuccessfully, to subvert democracy in the country.

Regardless of what some opposition elements may wish to say, Dr Jagan has been widely regarded as the main architect of the independence struggle in Guyana. He has been credited as the first and only colonial leader to have been granted permission to address the United Nations Committee on de-colonisation, an indication of his grit, determination and passion for a free, united and independent Guyana.

As we pay tribute to our leaders who rallied around the cause for independence, we owe, as a people, a special debt of gratitude to our heroes, in particular Dr Jagan. The country has come a far way in terms of political and economic independence but we have to continue to be vigilant and watchful in order to ensure that our hard-won gains are not put at risk at the hands of political opportunists and those intent on obtaining political power by undemocratic and fraudulent means.