Dear Editor,
TODAY, the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) celebrates sixty-one (61) years of its existence. This is as good an occasion as any on which we can take an accurate measure of the contribution of the PNC to the political, economic, social and ideological development of Guyana.

The occasion also presents the opportunity for the party to examine its substantial and acknowledged contribution to the building and development of Guyana and the management of its external relations.

Yet a political party of the stature and accomplishments of the PNC cannot rest on its laurel or ignore the lessons of the past. It must continue to review those achievements and lessons with a view to ensuring the relevance of its organs and its ability to take on the new challenges of a new era, characterised by the emerging oil and gas sector. Also, it is necessary that it corrects and protects its own record which some have rushed to impugn and challenge even as they ignore the striking and visible accomplishments of the party.

Above all, the PNC must salute and acknowledge the contributions of the ordinary men and women of this society who, by their sacrifices, commitment and belief in the values and purpose of the party made it strong, vibrant and ensured that it would be a political fixture in the context of the political landscape of Guyana. And the party must not forget its leaders–L.F.S. Burnham and H.D. Hoyte—[and] such figures as J.P. Latchmansingh, Jane Phillips Gay, Dr. Ptolemy Reid, Winifred Gaskin; Claude Merriman, Winslow Carrington, Neville Bissember, Shirley Field Ridley, Margaret Ackman and Winston Shirpal Murray, Eugene Correia, to name a few of those who have passed on. There are still some giants who are with us and whose contribution to the building and development of the party must be recognised.

Reference is made to Hamilton Green, Sase Naraine, Yvonne Harewood-Benn, Malcolm Paris and Jeffrey Thomas, among others. These elders of the party continue to give counsel, advice and guidance on matters critical to its existence and the implementation of important decisions.

The formation of the PNC in 1957 provided the occasion for the real and effective opposition to the PPP. Before this, the PPP– a Marxist-Leninist organization– dominated the political landscape, having marginalised all or most of the parties and organisations of the period. The PNC not only opposed the misguided ideological direction of building socialism in a colony but offered a distinct and different programme for the development of Guyana. In the judgement of the PNC, any ideological construct had to be indigenous to Guyana and based on the country’s historical development. And during this period the Guyanese people were witness to the stability, endurance and sustained leadership in difficult circumstances.

Defeated in successive elections in 1957 and 1961, the party endured while it called for a more just electoral system. It was in these circumstances that the true qualities of Mr. L.F.S. Burnham were demonstrated. The shunning of British attempts to remove him from the political arena in British Guiana by making lucrative offers, and threatening to put him before the courts on trumped up charges, did not deter him from leading the PNC in that critical phase of the history of this country from 1962 to 1964. Out-manoeuvring the PPP at successive independent conferences, Burnham was finally named premier after the elections of 1964 and would lead Guyana to Independence in 1966.

It is often overlooked what Mr. Burnham did after he became the prime minister of an independent Guyana. His main concern was to heal the country’s racial divisions, occasioned primarily by the “hurricane of protest” which began in 1964 after the leader of the PPP declared that he had been hoodwinked by the British.

A committee was appointed to house those who had been displaced as a result of the riots. After Dr. Jagan rejected his offer to visit the communities which had been harmed by the riots, he did so alone. Then he embarked on a major plan to rebuild a shattered economy and erase the worst evidence of the colonial society. An example of the latter will suffice. It must not be forgotten that it was the PNC that immediately after Independence put an end to the situation in which social clubs were based on ethnic considerations and some groups in the society were barred from joining others.

Beyond this, the role of the party could be examined by looking at four distinct periods: 1964-1970; 1970-1985; 1985-1992. The party is now in a coalition and leads the government and this will be referred to in due course.

Between 1964 and 1970, Amerindian rights were restored, housing schemes and highways were built; the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) was established in 1969; the irrigation schemes at Tapakuma, Black Bush, Cane Grove, Canals Polder were built. Highways were built from Linden to Georgetown and in Berbice, where the PPP is strong. The school system which was notoriously shattered under the PPP underwent a process of overhauling and generally measures were put in place to revive an economy which, according to the Jacob Report which was completed by the British Government, had declared that British Guiana was bankrupt. These internal developments were paralleled by major foreign policy initiatives: Guyana, in conjunction with Barbados and Antigua, formed a Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) in 1965, which laid the foundation for the Caribbean Community in 1973. In 1970, Guyana joined the Non-Aligned Movement and would host its first foreign ministers’ meeting in this sphere in 1972. It was clear that the PNC-led Government was laying the groundwork for the implementation of major policy decisions.

The period between 1970 and 1985 would see major transformations in the economy as the bauxite and sugar industries–the emblems of colonial domination– became nationalised and placed in the hands of the people of Guyana. A development plan was launched for the 1972 to the 1976 period and one of its central plans was to feed, clothe and house the nation. The school system was taken over by the government and major changes were introduced by the PNC-led Administration. Most important of all, the right to education was not conditioned by which race the average Guyanese belonged to, neither were their class origins an impediment to entering the school system at appropriate levels. Sport was given a fillip also. It was at this period that every area in sport, whether it was in boxing or cricket, that Guyana made major achievements. In cricket in particular, Guyana produced two test captains: Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd, and the country was dominant in regional cricket.

In diplomatic terms, there were major breakthroughs. The internal tilt towards socialism and socialist policy was mirrored by the significant recognition of the Government of Cuba and the People’s Republic of China. Thereafter, the PNC Government established relations with many communist and socialist states. This was done despite the opposition and concerns of many western countries. Additionally, the PNC, in collaboration with like-minded states, sought major changes to the international system, as they sought to create a new international economic order, which was based on justice and equity, and which could ensure that the voices of small nations were heard.

The activism of Guyana in international affairs ensured that it was elected a member of the Security Council twice, in 1975, that it held the Presidency of the Council for Namibia; that one of its citizens was elected a member of the World Court and that it would be honored as the only developing state to be invited to the Cancun Summit held in Mexico in 1981 at which a selected group of developing states met with states of the third world to discuss the problems affecting the countries of the north and the countries of the south. In this recounting of the successes of the party, it must not be forgotten that, at great cost to itself and the people of Guyana, it effectively supported the African states as they sought the end of apartheid and the liberation of Southern Africa.

It may be appropriate here to say a word or two about the border controversy with Venezuela and the border dispute with Suriname. These two questions were raised by the party at this juncture because as it gained strength and recognition internationally it was able to ward off the threats from Venezuela and Suriname. Both countries were to make major substantial claims to Guyana’s territory, beginning in the 60s and they sustained these claims throughout the 70s and 80s. In the case of Venezuela, there was an extravagant claim to five eights of the country’s territory. These claims, which began in the 60s, were to challenge the foreign policy management of Guyana, but due to the skill of the leadership of the PNC and the support of an array of gifted diplomats, Guyana was able to parry the diplomatic aggression of Venezuela and keep the threat from Suriname in abeyance. By the time the PNC left office in 1992, both issues were contained and a period of seeming normalcy ensued between Guyana and its western and eastern neighbours.

It seemed that the transformation of the economy and the society was proceeding as planned. However, the global economic crisis triggered by the fourfold increase in the price of oil between 1973 and 1979, made its completion a most difficult exercise. As a small, open and vulnerable economy, Guyana was hard hit and many economic and social problems overtook the nation. Yet, by 1983, there are indications of a return to growth.

Between 1985 and 1992, the PNC had put in place, under Mr. Desmond Hoyte, an Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), the success of which is best described in the words of the World Bank Report of April 10, 1992: “The Economic Recovery Program, launched in 1988… aimed to eliminate distortions in the commodity and factor markets, reduced the size of the public sector and restored international economic relations. Few countries have moved so far, so fast.”

In recounting the achievements of the PNC, I do not wish to give the impression that it encountered no difficulties as it tried to manage the transformation of the society from a colonial entity into a modern, democratic state. There was not unalloyed success and there were not such reversals as to undermine the confidence of the PNC in the eyes of the people. The party has maintained, with one exception, approximately a 40 per cent popularity with the Guyanese electorate from 1961 to 2011.

Based on its record, I have every confidence that it would lead the coalition government with confidence and success, and, given the pool of political talent it has acquired over the years, it will help the new government in navigating the challenge and difficulties as the country embraces the emerging Oil and Gas sector. I have no doubt that playing such a role will necessitate the generation of ideas for a new period. This is a challenge to which the PNC/R is clearly equal. Its record of development in the past and its laboratory of ideas for the future development of Guyana hold much promise for the attainment of the good life for all Guyanese.

Regards
Mervyn Williams