Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter from Mr Ralph Ramkarran captioned ‘It was the mistake of the WPA…’ published in the SN of July 9. It is most disturbing that Mr Tacuma Ogunseye seemed to be mixing up his facts and thus I want to point him specifically to the SN front-page report written by Anand Persaud (now editor but who was then a reporter) dated October 22, 1992.
People like Dr Roger Forbes Luncheon and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, were in the thick of things during those fateful negotiations, and they are still around today, so why are we not asking them for guidance on the facts? Instead, a very determined effort is being made to publicly distort these facts. Is this how Mr Ogunseye plans to close his innings? Castigated as a historical revisionist?
Under the 1980 constitution, 53 MPs were directly elected with national seats, 2 MPs came from the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs (NCLDO) through the Supreme Congress of the People, and 10 from the Regional Democratic Councils (RDC), totalling 65 MPs.
The PPP/C won 28 of those 53 national seats, 5 regional seats and was confident of 1 of the 2 NCLDO seats by virtue of the fact that they won 53.5% of the popular vote. This would have brought their total in the Parliament to 34 seats. Basic arithmetic illustrates that 34 is a comfortable majority in a total of 65. Under the then 1980 constitution, any party with 33 seats and more, could have formed a government and passed laws in Parliament. So let us bury that myth, that the WPA was needed to secure the majority for Dr Jagan in 1992.
The PNC won 23 of those 53 national seats (with 42.3% of the popular vote) and 3 regional seats (totalling 26 seats). The WPA with 6,068 votes won 1 national seat. That left 1 national seat, 2 regional seats (Regions 8 and 9), and 1 NCLDO seat to be decided upon, but this process had nothing to do with the PPP securing the majority.
The Elections Commission under Rudy Collins allocated the 53rd national seat to the TUF based on a process of the highest left over votes. The TUF got 0.55 of that 53rd seat compared with the PNC 0.42, PPP/C 0.33 and WPA 0.06. This entire process was scrutinized by one of Guyana’s most brilliant sons – Haslyn Parris on behalf of the PNC, who had a front seat in the entire process. Upon winning that one seat, Mr Manzoor Nadir immediately facilitated a process that allowed Eugene La Cruz from the PPP/C to secure the Region 9 (Rupununi) seat, giving the PPP its 35th seat.
The WPA also reached an agreement with the PPP/C on the Region 8 seat and the remaining NCLDO. The PPP supported the WPA in order for Bagot Paul from the WPA to sit in the Parliament on behalf of Region 8. In return, the WPA supported the PPP to secure the final NCLDO seats. The final tally from the 1992 elections was: PPP/C ‒ 36 seats; PNC – 26 seats; WPA – 2 seats; and TUF ‒ 1 seat.
Let the record show that Guyana was saved from a compromised status because sons of Guyana like former President Desmond Hoyte, Rudy Collins, and Haslyn Parris served with the highest level of integrity, professionalism, and honesty during those critical October days in 1992.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
