By Vanessa Narine

AS Guyana prepares to celebrate its 59th year of independence on May 26, Guyanese are being called on to reflect on the nation’s turbulent history and the strides made in recent decades.

In a wide-ranging comment, on Thursday, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, General Secretary of the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), urged Guyanese to safeguard the country’s hard-won progress and “commit themselves to ensuring Guyana never returns to dark days again.”

Speaking at a press conference at Freedom House in Georgetown, Dr. Jagdeo described the anniversary as “another important milestone in Guyana’s history,” and emphasised the importance of using the occasion to engage with citizens about both past challenges and the nation’s aspirations.

“It allows us an opportunity to speak to the people of our country — not only about past challenges, but about where our country is headed,” he said. “We believe it is important to paint that picture for the people of the country, to lay out the vision for the future, to support that vision with well laid out plans and programmes, because the citizens of the country deserve that type of information, that type of clarity, as they plan their lives and their futures.”

Dr. Jagdeo credited successive PPP/C administrations for consistently articulating a forward-looking vision focused on the needs of ordinary Guyanese. “It is not a vision that is based on criticisms of others, inane criticisms, of others. It is a vision that is focused on the needs of the people,” he added.

He outlined a sweeping economic and social agenda for the years ahead, promising broad-based economic expansion coupled with investments in education, healthcare, housing, digital infrastructure, welfare services, and job creation.

“As we approach these independence celebrations, you’re going to hear about our vision to support a massive economic expansion in the future — but not just economic expansion, broad-based economic expansion that will yield the benefits that would allow us to support the development needs of our people,” Dr. Jagdeo said. “We are the only Party in the country that has laid out detailed plans for economic development — whether it is in mining or agriculture or the hospitality sector or the other industries.”

The PPP leader emphasised plans for world-class education and healthcare, expanded homeownership, improved welfare for children, seniors, and people with disabilities, and the advancement of a digital society.

“You will hear about the financial empowerment of our people and expanded economic opportunities for them. You will hear about the expansion of security for our people. You will hear about job creation, etc.… all of this is part of the vision for the future,” he said.

Dr. Jagdeo further stressed the need for national unity in the face of Guyana’s complex history of racial, political, and economic divisions. “These are important things that matter to our people,” he noted.

A TROUBLED PAST
The PPP General Secretary’s remarks also served as a reminder of the difficult road Guyana has travelled since its independence from Britain in 1966, including what he described as over three decades of mismanagement.
He acknowledged that the PPP’s tenure — which spans approximately 28 of the country’s 59 years of independence — has not been without challenges but argued that progress under successive PPP-led governments has been undeniable.

“In the post-independence period, what did we have? We saw our country become an international pariah because undemocratic, rigged elections,” he said. “Guyana was characterised as having massive economic decline and a mass exodus of our people, who were looking for jobs and welfare in different countries across the world…. the Party, the PNC flag, flew over the supreme court… these things were part of our history.”

During the years 1964 to 1992, Guyana endured nearly three decades of authoritarian rule, severe economic hardship, and international isolation. By 1990, some 87 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line, and the country was ranked by a Commonwealth mission led by former CARICOM Secretary General Alister McIntyre as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere — even trailing Haiti.

Economic mismanagement and heavy-handed control over private enterprise drove emigration and deepened poverty. By the late 1980s, Guyana’s external debt had ballooned to $1.7 billion, six times the country’s GDP, with the government increasingly unable to meet its obligations.

RECENT POLITICAL TURMOIL
Dr. Jagdeo also criticised the opposition APNU+AFC Coalition for what he described as obstructionism and harmful policies during its time in government from 2015 to 2020.

He accused the Coalition of “a series of anti-people measures,” including mass layoffs, tax hikes, and the closure of major sugar estates, which he said disproportionately affected the nation’s most vulnerable.

The PPP leader also alleged attempts at undermining democracy and public institutions. “We nearly became [an international pariah] again in 2020 with their (PNCR/APNU/AFC) attempt to steal the elections,” Dr. Jagdeo claimed.

He condemned budgetary cuts to key agencies and social programmes during the Coalition’s control of Parliament from 2011 to 2015, particularly blocking infrastructure projects like the Amaila Falls Hydropower project and the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) initiatives.

A NEW ERA OF GROWTH
Since returning to office in 2020, Dr. Jagdeo contended, the PPP has presided over an economic turnaround, buoyed by the discovery and exploitation of offshore oil reserves. Guyana now boasts one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with debt-to-GDP ratios among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.

“We have come a long way from the period when we had a very different experience, and it is important that people remember that history and commit themselves to ensuring that we never go down that route again,” he said. “We cannot pursue unsustainable economic plans and we must defend our freedoms.”

The PPP General Secretary in extending Independence Day greetings to all Guyanese, called for introspection. “Look at how far we have come and the difficult path that we walked in these short years, relatively short years, as a newly independent country,” he urged.

Guyana marks its 59th anniversary of independence from Britain on May 26, 2025.