REFERENCES made by members of the Peoples’ Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to the state of the country during the pre-1992 era drew criticisms from both political and media circles; but
PPP/C General Secretary, Clement Rohee has since rejected those criticisms.

Speaking at the party’s weekly press conference yesterday, Rohee said, “The People’s Progressive Party rejects efforts by the PNC/APNU and an irresponsible, egotistical newspaper columnist to deliberately denigrate the party’s reference to pre-1992 Guyana.
“For all the hard work of rebuilding a bankrupt economy inherited 21 years ago, the PPP believes it has earned the right to do so.”
Rohee acknowledged the exercise of freedom of speech, but said that freedom must not be abused by irresponsibility. “We must contextualize freedom,” he said.
The party general secretary explained that while there is freedom of speech and expression of opinion, there is also a simultaneous struggle to correct distortions of facts, hence the reference to the situation pre-1992. He said the party firmly believes that stating the historical facts would allow Guyana’s youth to “develop a better sense of appreciation for the difficulties and challenges” that the party and Government have had to overcome in improving the quality of life of all Guyanese – much of which, according to him, is being taken for granted.
In his scathing response to the critics, Rohee said, “No one should deny a people the right to refer to their history, and to be reminded of that history. However, the PPP believes there are valid reasons why the Opposition Leader, David Granger, would wish to bury our own history of oppression.
“For the PNC/APNU to disclose to young Guyanese knowledge of events leading up to 1992 would be admitting failure as the political party that shattered the hopes and aspirations of countless Guyanese.
Which political party would ever publicly admit that and survive?” the General Secretary questioned.
Rohee said, “1992 was the historic year that the PNC, now disguised as APNU, lost the reins of Government in the first-ever free and fair election held during the entire PNC’s 28-year-old rule.
There are still some in the PNC who blame former President Desmond Hoyte for ‘giving in’ to demands made by former US President Jimmy Carter for a new elections machinery and foreign observers to be in place to ensure that the 1992 General Elections were free and fair. They would have preferred it rigged, like all the others.
“1992 was also an embarrassing year for David Granger and the PNC because, for the very first time, the newly elected PPP Government discovered how empty the National Treasury was, and just how heavily indebted we were as a nation.”
According to Rohee, concealing the past is always in the interest of the “oppressors”.
“To us in the PPP, it is very clear why PNC/APNU would deny young, politically astute Guyanese the opportunity to assess their 28 years of failure and mismanagement of the Guyana economy that led to deprivation and hopelessness,” he said.
Rohee maintained that the past does indeed matter. He said, “The odds are slim to none that any black South African youth who was a mere child when the Apartheid system was dismantled in 1994 would ever vote for the racist National Party; even if, like the PNC, the party changes its name.
“As a historian, David Granger would never object to young black South Africans having knowledge of a brutal, racist regime that once oppressed their people; but as Leader of the Opposition, he denies young Guyanese the same rights for selfish motives and political gains.
“The People’s Progressive Party intends to initiate a national conversation with all Guyanese on this subject, to educate our youth and to refresh the fading memories of our elderly.”
The General Secretary was emphatic in his contention that there is need to remind and educate young Guyanese of their history.