Guyana a democratic nation because of PPP’s fight – Jagdeo

Had it not been for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Guyana would not have been enjoying the perks of a democratic nation with free and fair elections, which it heavily fought for – especially during the highly contentious electoral periods of 1992 and 2020.
This was the position taken by General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday during his weekly press conference at Freedom House. He drew comparison between governance under the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) to make this point.
“If it wasn’t for the People’s Progressive Party in this country, there wouldn’t have been any democracy. There are two periods that APNU have been in Government. The period of 28 years ending 1992 and every election prior to that was rigged and documented internationally.”
“Every single election that the PPP participated in and won in the period between 1992 and 2015, we had international observers and they all reported at every one of those as being free and fair,” the General Secretary underlined.
Over the last 20 years, he noted that jabs have been made at the party’s democratic credentials, which warrants clarity.
Jagdeo, who is also the country’s Vice President and a former Head of State contended, “In spite of all of the explanations, the matters keep resurfacing, not in any refined form or format taking into account the explanations but in the same crude way as though nothing has happened in 20-odd years in this country.”
His comments came in rebutting a recent Stabroek News editorial which sought to label some of the party’s actions in the past as ‘anti-democratic’.
One such example was the prorogation of Parliament in 2014 by then President Donald Ramotar, which Jagdeo responded that while some may not like it, it was ‘never unconstitutional’.
Another reference was the 2006 elections where there was an issue over a Parliament seat in Linden. The General Secretary reminded that the court has ruled upon this matter. Lastly, the PPP’s position that the 2015 General and Regional Elections were stolen was listed.
“You can talk about anti-democratic behaviour of the PPP and cite a couple of examples which we have explanations for. But one thing you can’t get away from is the track record of the PNC,” he added.
Attention was drawn to the PNC-aligned A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), where it took a five-month-long standoff for them to exit office in 2020.
The record-breaking protracted electoral process stemmed from the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition’s refusal to accept defeat and give up office.
At the hands of the coalition, the threat of sanctions hung over Guyana’s head for electoral fraud – one which the United States was hopeful it would not have to use.
After a recount, the PPP/C won the presidency with a commanding 233,336 votes, a remarkable lead of 15,416 over its nearest political rival, the APNU/AFC coalition.
In June 2021, several of the key players who were allegedly behind those blatant attempts to steal the elections were slapped with fraud charges. They included longstanding PNC member and former Health Minister, Volda Lawrence.
Going forward, the PPP General Secretary has outlined that for talks to materialise between his party and the PNC, then the latter would have to acknowledge its actions.
“When we say that it’s a precondition for any talks between PNC, they have to acknowledge that history that the whole world knows. If they don’t acknowledge that history, then they don’t believe they did anything wrong,” Jagdeo positioned. (G12)