PNC’s dictatorship has been replaced with democracy since 1992

Dear Editor,
In a letter to one of the daily newspapers, veteran Trade Unionist Lincoln Lewis accuses the PPPC Government of “pushing [Guyana] to a full-fledged dictatorship.” Only recently (July 2020), Mr. Lewis had given prominence to a self-imputed virtue of dictatorship: by asserting that ex-President David Granger had the power to cancel the 2020 elections. “Lincoln Lewis has publicly called on David Granger to cancel the General and Regional Elections held on 2 March 2020.” (GSA:7/29/2020). GECOM Commissioner Mr. Sase Gunraj noted: “Lewis is attempting to mislead and confuse the public by advocating positions that have no basis in law, and by arrogating power unto Granger which he does not have (7/29/2020).”
To express concern about a “full-fledged movement” of the PPPC Government now towards dictatorship is duplicitous and opportunistic. Here is Mr. Lewis’s statement in July 2020: “I call on President David Granger not to allow history to record him as it did Nero. You have the power vested in your office to correct this public hijacking of Guyana’s elections, this confounded brazen highway robbery, this piracy, and these buccaneering politics unleashed on Guyana. … … If GECOM cannot declare an election on credible votes or declarations never challenged or deemed invalid in a court of law, then Mr. President, it behooves you to cancel these elections. You have the power, you have the right to so do… Mr. President, for the good of Guyana, her laws, and people, cancel these elections.” (July 28, 2020).
Imputing ex-President Granger with absolute power and urging him to cancel a legally conducted election (thus negating the sovereignty of the people), is an unconditional embrace of dictatorship.
Notwithstanding, let us assume that Mr. Lewis has made a U-turn on the exercise of Presidential power, has he been able to produce any credible evidence to support his claim of a fledging dictatorship under the existing PPPC governance? Absolutely NOT! He could have been guided by Guyana’s history to make constructive comparisons, but has instead chosen another path.
There has been a flourishing period of dictatorship during the PNC rule between 1968 and 1992. Several books have attested to this dictatorship. Here are some of the features of dictatorship that expressed themselves during the PNC rule covering the period 1968-1992. There was a maximum leader, Mr. LFS Burnham, who proclaimed party paramountcy, which allowed the PNC to rise above all state agencies. There were restrictions on newsprint, freedom of press, and denial of individuals’ rights. Jobs were only for people who had PNC party cards.
The distribution of basic food items was controlled by the PNC party’s KSI (Knowledge Sharing Institute). The importation of goods was controlled by the External Trade Bureau (ETB), and the scarcity of food items led to the imposition of price controls and uncontrollable smuggling. A command-and-control economy was set in motion, in which the PNC party controlled 80% of the economy and functioned in a Police/military state. These measures have forced thousands of Guyanese, including the highly skilled and talented, to flee the country. The lack of freedom was pervasive: everyone had to watch over their shoulders. Dr Cheddi Jagan noted in 1992: “People could now breathe freely, and don’t have to watch over their shoulders anymore.”
None of these austere and autocratic measures exists under the current PPPC administration. Mr. Lewis skillfully avoids reporting these unique features of the PNC, and cites instead some disparate matters that fall under the Government’s day-to-day management. These include the dismissals of public servants; the prosecution of two anti-PPPC activists, Mr. Mark Benschop and Mr. Rickford Burke, whom Mr. Lewis venerates. He accuses the PPPC General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeo of an association with death squads, and labelled Guyana a narco-state under the previous PPPC term in office.
The merits and demerits of these allegations have been successfully addressed several times before, so there is no need to reproduce them here.
Mr. Lewis must be reminded of the nefarious activities of the PNC-aligned ‘House of Israel’ thug group, which terrorized citizens and political parties opposed to PNC. What about the link between PNC operatives and the X13 Plan, and the ensuing mayhem? And must we forget that the unprecedented reign of terror in 1964 was halted only when a PNC activist, Immanuel Fairbairn, was captured by the Police on August 9, 1964 with a huge cache of ammunition in a Georgetown hotel? What about the assassination of eminent scholar Dr Walter Rodney, Jesuit Priest Father Darke, politician Vincent Teekah and others during the PNC dictatorship?
How would Mr. Lewis describe the Opposition PNCR party’s draping of the coffin of a notorious criminal with the Guyana flag? Was that an act of defiance? Or was the deceased deemed a freedom fighter? If so, what is their perception of freedom? Is it the capturing of state power by either insurrection or revolution? Is history on their side concerning the conduct of elections?
Mr. Lewis and associates want Guyana to be governed by an alternative non-elected and self-appointed system drawn from civil society groups. Why do they not want the Guyanese people to choose their Government at regular free and fair elections? They have historically supported insurrection to change a Government, and are inclined to discard the ballot boxes.
Now Opposition elements argue vociferously for executive power sharing. Have they determined that APNU could not win any forthcoming election, despite no ethnic group having a demographic advantage anymore since 1980? Raising fears and invoking racism would not solve any problem. These would exacerbate them.
Guyana is fast becoming a marketplace of free ideas, and those with superior ones will triumph.

Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh