Dear Editor,

PEEPING Tom’s reflection on Class and Congress (KN 6/30/2024) deserves attention for no other reason than it raises a good question — the question as I understand it is this: does the working class in Guyana have any real representation? It is a timely question. I can tell you up front that while Peeping Tom asked a good question, he made a mess of the answer.

Here are five specific points to consider.

Firstly, the article offers no definition of what is meant by class, and certainly who constitutes the working class. Is a skilled mason making GY$16,000 daily a member of the working class? Is a construction foreman (the person who is “running the wuk,” not to be mixed up with an engineer) who earns between GY$20,000 – $25,000 daily a member of the working class?

Secondly, Peeping Tom conflates the PPP with the AFC. Any high school child will tell you that this should not be done. The PPP is an independent party with a civic arm that has governed Guyana or led the official opposition since 1950. The AFC is a minority party that has never led this country; but more importantly, while the PPP has been steadfast in protecting democracy, the AFC joined with the PNCR-led APNU in a massive attempt at electoral fraud in 2020. The AFC has no moral or ethical compass, something required to represent the working class.

Thirdly, Peeping Tom does not say what makes the PPP bourgeois. That fancy word is just tossed into the ring and assumed to have automatic resonance. The article uses the usual but useless idea that the PPP of Jagdeo and Ali has moved away from the PPP of Cheddi Jagan. But what is it that Jagan would give today to the working class that the current PPP is not giving? I challenge Peeping Tom to answer this specific question.

Fourthly, the suggestion that the PNC might be the last hope of the working class is not only hopelessly naïve, but also shockingly banal for a piece that attempts to be intellectually mature. Here are some facts about the PNC. They have rigged every election which they administered, but more than that, they rig their own elections. And finally, senior people from the PNC not only admit to election-rigging, but have called for more of the same, and this to the applause from other top-ranking party members. Beyond their specialisation in electoral fraud, their record on economic governance is abysmal.

Fifth and finally, it is difficult to believe that there are rational people in this country who still suck on the ‘sweetee’ served up by the PNC. Sometimes race politics can explain some of this stuff. Clientelism also is helpful because when the PNC is in office, they tend to hire their “own,” something openly admitted by a senior PNC female leader.

The PNC is the worst enemy of the working class. Peeping Tom might be one of the few people who does not know that simple fact.

Yours Truly,
Brian Azore