Dear Editor,
Monday, October 5, 1992 is a day to remember in Guyana, and by Guyanese wherever they live. It marked the return to democracy after nearly three decades of dictatorial rule by the People’s National Congress. It marked the first free and fair elections since 1964. It marked the return of the People’s Progressive Party to Government. It marked the return of progress and prosperity to a land defined by acute sufferings, hardships, poverty and hunger for 28 years. And, above all, it marked the return of dignity and self-respect to Guyanese, who were tired of escaping to all parts of the globe in an effort to earn three square meals.
On that day, the PPP ended 28 years of PNC dictatorship. It was the first free and fair elections since 1964. The People’s Progressive Party ended the People’s National Congress’s 28-year rule, winning 28 of the 53 seats in the National Assembly, and 53.5% of the votes cast. The PNC managed just 42.31%.
I will give just one example of the shameless and blatant rigging which took place in the past. When the results of the 1985 Elections were announced, the PNC, under the late Hugh Desmond Hoyte, gave the PNC a landslide victory with 228,718 votes, or 77.6 percent of the votes cast. The PPP was given 45,926 votes or 15.6%. Thus, the PNC rigged itself to 42 seats, gave the PPP 8 seats, the UF 2 seats, and the WPA 1 seat in the National Assembly.
This was the worst rigged Election in Guyana. Similar riggings took place in 1968, 1973, and 1980, but what was crystal clear was that the rigging became increasingly worse. In 1968, the PNC had 55.8%; in 1973, it was 70.1%; in 1980, it was 77.6%; and in 1985, it was 78.5% of the total votes cast.
It defies logic and imagination that, having ‘won’ 78.5% in 1985, the PNC’s votes fell to 42.3% in 1992. It’s quite remarkable that its support fell by 36.2% a mere 6 years later.
What more proof is needed to prove PNC’s massive rigging?
However, the PPP wasted no time in rebuilding the country, and, in 23 years, Guyana moved rapidly from a low income and highly indebted country to a middle-income developing country.
Unfortunately, in 2015, when the Coalition deceived some Guyanese with false promises and managed a one-seat majority, Guyana once again rapidly descended into bankruptcy, and a budding dictatorship began to emerge, not unlike the old PNC.
However, the PPP never balked in its fight against the PNC, but this time Dr Jagdeo, as the new Leader of the Opposition, managed to do the impossible in just 5 years, after 5 months of intense struggle against the most blatant attempted rigging by the PNC and its ally, the AFC. Ironically it was the same leaders of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo, who fought against the PNC riggings from 1968 to 1985.
March 2nd, 2020 and the 5-month aftermath will also go down in Guyanese history as a period when it was power at all and any cost, with no consideration that the entire world was looking on.
Guyanese owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the leaders of the PPP, past and present, and the indefatigable freedom lovers who relentlessly fought the PNC behemoth and its later hybrid (the Coalition) and ensured that our democracy prevailed. It was a long and hard battle, which began with Dr Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana fighting against the colonial masters, then the PNC dictatorship, and then the PNC hybrid.
In closing, I must pay tribute to an Iron Lady who fought for and helped win our democracy and freedom. Mrs Philomena Sahoye-Shury, aptly nicknamed ‘the Fireball’, has earned her place in the annals alongside the freedom fighters of the world. What we are enjoying and what the future generations will enjoy is as a result of unselfish people like her.
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
