If one of the two main political groups in Guyana, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) or A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) achieves an absolute majority at the March 2 general elections, one half of the population will feel alienated.
The spectacle of a Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, a world renowned fighter for human rights, and former political prisoner, denying genocide during last week at the World Court is sobering.
With the Conservative Party polling at 42 per cent and the Labour Party at 32 per cent, the results on December 12 appear to be a likely Conservative Party victory.
At its 130th Anniversary gala dinner during last week, the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, outlined a development plan which he urged political parties to support and implement, whichever political party holds office.
During last week, the Stabroek News published an article (Akola Thompson – “Towards a post-racial future” and a letter (Ryhaan Shah – “Little hope of a post-racial future for Guyana any time soon”) on the future of race in Guyana.
Esther Perreira, a PNC supporter, filed an elections petition in 1998, challenging the validity of the 1997 elections on several grounds, one of which was that the elections were unlawfully conducted.
Jaded by the PPP/C’s 23 years in office, many were elated at the coalition between the APNU and AFC because it offered the real possibility of ending the PPP/C’s long incumbency.
As Guyana’s political season enters its beginning stages, a plethora of new political parties are coming forward to present their programmes to the electorate and seeking its support.
It was on October 9, 1953, 66 years ago last week, that the Conservative British Government of Winston Churchill suspended what was known as British Guiana’s Waddington Constitution.
October 5, 1992, the date of the return to democracy after a quarter of a century, promised not only a new era of democracy, but of winner-does-not-take-all politics.
Elections in March 2020, after a no-confidence motion in December 2019, mandating elections in three months, is an intolerable constitutional travesty.
The Chief Justice ruled last week in the case brought by Christopher Ram in connection with the house-to-house registration that it is unlawful to remove names from the registration list during the current exercise merely because they are not present at the addresses or had migrated.
Apart from recognising its “interim” status, the Government acknowledges no other consequence of the no-confidence motion passed in the National Assembly on December 21, after its members challenged the Opposition PPP/C to “bring it on.”