The PPP is bridging the racial divide.
Source Nov 18, 2011
Dear Editor,
General elections are just around the corner and political parties are trying their best to convince the electorate why they should give them an opportunity to form the next government.
This democratic right to choose a government of one’s choice which we take for granted today, did not come about without a long and hard struggle by progressive forces led by the PPP in the early 1950’s. Before 1950 only the rich were allowed to vote.
It was the PPP that successfully petitioned the British Government for constitutional changes which eventually resulted in the introduction of universal adult suffrage and the ministerial system of government in the elections of 1953 which was won by the PPP by a landslide.
However the PPP was overthrown after a mere six months in office out of fear by the imperialist powers that the PPP was too much labour-oriented and was likely to implement measures detrimental to the planter class and big business.
Fresh elections held in 1957 were again won by the PPP despite attempts by the colonial powers to emasculate the PPP. In 1955 the PPP was split into two factions, a sad blow to the working class unity which resulted primarily from Burnham’s unsuccessful bid to take over the leadership of the PPP from Jagan.
The genesis of race-based politics could therefore be linked to Burnham who allowed himself to be manipulated by foreign vested interests to forestall the rising tide of popular support for independence and national liberation ignited by the PPP. The aim was to break the emergent class and racial unity which sadly manifested itself in ethnic tensions during the 1960’s which overshadowed the economic and class interests which was evident in the 1950’s.
The subsequent removal of the PPP in the elections of 1964 by way of constitutional engineering and the catapulting of the PNC-UF coalition government only served to exacerbate ethnic tensions. The blatant rigging of elections by the PNC after kicking out its junior coalition partner in 1967 led to greater polarization even though all ethnic groups suffered from declining incomes as a result of a shrinking economy.
It is my submission that we are begining to once again see a re- kindling of the spirit of the 1950’s when economic and social issues take precedence over ethnic loyalties. Already there are strong indications of shift in voting behaviour among Amerindians and Afro-Guyanese in favour of the PPP/C. The fact that the PPP/C was successful in winning a handsome majority in all democratic elections since 1992 speaks to a changing political dispensation in which voting behaviour is much more responsive to economic and social deliverables rather than appeals to blind loyalty as was the case during the 1960’s.
My own assessment of current trends in voting behaviour is that the PPP/C has been largely successful in breaking the back of race-based politics by way of embracing a politics of inclusion and the even-handed manner in which an increasingly larger national pie is being distributed.
At the political level, the PPP/C has demolished the myth of it being an Indian party by bringing on board people from all ethnic groups into its leadership structures at the various levels.
The PPP/C deserves full credit for not only keeping alive but realizing the dreams and aspirations of our foreparents for a peaceful, progressive and prosperous Guyana. This is why come November 28 the PPP/C will win with an even greater margin of victory than it did in previous elections.
Hydar Ally
Re-cap of Hydar in 2011.