Dear Editor,
Reference letter a January 3, 2023 in Kaieteur News and Stabroek News by Hydar Ally that speaks of the 73rd anniversary of the PPP. Mr. Ally is a very careful, analytical and seasoned writer. I always admired his exposé. His recent letter touched on politics, race, rigging, cross-over votes, and elections – even if briefly. His many claims are factual and valid. What are missing – whether by oversight or deliberate – are omissions.
The PPP has apparently disbanded Accabre College, its ideological institute, for reasons that I would rather not speculate. 1998 marked a turning point within the PPP, i.e., a deviation from its core philosophy. 1998 was the year of the PPP Congress at Zeeburg. Despite the mandate of the people at the Congress, upon returning to Freedom House, the hierarchy in the PPP hand-picked Bharrat Jagdeo as their presidential candidate, and he became the President subsequently. This was a serious blow to democratic norms. Consequently, many could not countenance the inner motives of the “gang” at Freedom House. This also prompted the (in) famous avowal: “I will not be a neemakaraam”, that resulted in bitterness and disunity in many quarters.
Mr. Jagdeo served in a few capacities. Despite his inexperience, he acquitted himself creditably – learning on the jobs and sustained by the learned ones. In 2005, then President Jagdeo addressed the OAS. I quote from Paul Tennassee (2005): “The President of Guyana, His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, in a very quiet, firm and dignified manner addressed the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS). The speech was very significant and clearly outlined the President’s assertion of leadership, not as ‘A Leader’ but as ‘The Leader’ and President of The Republic. There were a number of shadows hovering over his government, since the speech of the secretary general of the PPP who clearly indicated that PPP remains firmly with its traditional ideology of Marxism-Leninism that has even been discarded by Russia, previously for the PPP “The Great Soviet Union.” … he “played his geo-political and ideological card with clarity, pragmatism and astuteness.”
He went on, “We have been faithfully implementing the prescriptions of the neo-liberal model: privatization, trade and financial sector liberalization and
deregulation…. The PPP might be Marxist-Leninist but he clarified that his government’s ideology and practice is neo-liberalism…. President Jagdeo has seemingly broken links and ruptured with the past of Cheddi Jagan’s Marxism-Leninism and anti-imperialism.” So that despite Hydar Ally’s various assertions, the PPP has moved away significantly and is revisionist. There is a severe discordance and dissonance vis-a-vis the original philosophy of the PPP and the modus operandi of neo-liberalism. Mr. Ally should re-examine the “dialectics” and scrutinize the “paradigm” epochally.
Sincerely,
Gary Girdhari
