Failures of the Jagans
By KAMAL PERSAD
THE resignation of Mrs Janet Jagan as President of Guyana has brought to an end what one can label, the Cheddi Jagan era. One can speak of a Jagan era which must include the Burnham dictatorship (1966-1985) and the Desmond Hoyte succession (1985-1992) and the phase of democratic restoration under Cheddi Jagan himself and continued under the 20-month administration of his wife. The Burnham/Hoyte political distortation was made possible because of the Cold War and the Western, primarily United States, fear that Cheddi Jagan was a communist and was aligned with the then Soviet bloc. The end of the Cold War made it possible for democracy to be restored in Guyana with a strong US input in the form of the Carter Center. While Cheddi Jagan, and even now some elements of his People's Progressive Party (PPP), viewed Guyanese society and problems through Marxist viewpoint and perspectives, this was not the case with Mrs Janet Jagan in her departure speech to the Guyanese people on August 8. She spoke of "the need to have great political wisdom and prevent racial conflagration by finding new ways to solve problems of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society". Surely, if this was recognised as the crucial issue facing Guyana, the reality that race and culture are the important elements to be addressed, and not class struggle, and linking this to the then external bipolar division of the world, then Guyana would have been spared a lot of suffering and the intensity of racial struggle in Guyana would have been diminished. It was a failure of ideology, a failure to assess reality properly and a failure of practice on the part of the Jagans. In dealing with accusations that her administration has not been firm and strong in dealing with disruptive opposition disturbances, Mrs Jagan said her government's attitude has been one of patience since "our state and government have a responsibility to see that this society does not descend into anarchy". President Bharrat Jagdeo will also have to face these very problems. The threat to the restored democracy and security of persons and property are immediate and must be addressed. One got the impression that what Mrs Jagan described as "patience" was in fact the inability of her administration to confront these threats to Guyana. So bold are the anti-social elements that they have been interpreting the PPP/Civic "patience" as weakness and they have been getting away with their extremely disruptive actions. Jesuit Fr Andrew Morrison, in his recent publication Justice: The Struggle For Democracy in Guyana 1952-1992 (1998), a publication worth reading to appreciate the recent politication history of Guyana, dealt with these issues. He stated that because of race voting "we know the results without holding elections," and "unless we can find a way to convert perpetual losers into real stake holders in the future of Guyana, a small minority with access to grenades and firearms will continue to advance their position that if one side will always lose it is better that we all end up losers". The "small minority" refers to PNC black supporters. Thus the small black minority, which does not include the entire Afro-Guyanese population, threatens anarchy, holds the vast majority of Guyanese to ransom, and now "new ways" must be found to make them into "stakeholders" in the society. When they are violent, and this violence directed exclusively against Indians, patience must be exercised to prevent anarchy. In the recent public servants strike it took just a few blacks to close down entire ministries while the police stood by doing nothing. Fr Morrison also referred to the "growing disparity between the two races in economic terms," and that Indo-Guyanese as a whole "are increasingly becoming more wealthy than Guyanese of African descent," and hence the Afro-Guyanese fear of "a real threat of racial domination" by Indo-Guyanese. Interestingly, he referred to an incident between a senior technocrat and Forbes Burnham, and his criticism of the failures of socialism, and of "how prosperous the Indians on the Corentyne were and they were not Socialists". Burnham agreed with Pat Carmichael but added that "if push come to shove, I'll shoot the lot" (meaning Indians). For many years the vast majority of Guyanese struggled against a small black minority for the restoration of a democratic Guyana. Many thousands migrated to other countries. Mrs Jagan mentioned that Guyana has not enjoyed "the political peace for advancement and change" because of the "unreasonable and uncivilised behaviour of an opposition that cannot accept the results of democratic elections". Desmond Hoyte, head of the PNC, has already stated that he does not recognise the new President. The PNC seems determined to take power using any means necessary. In fact, Fr Morrison reported that PNC black supporters were hurt that Desmond Hoyte did not rig the 1992 elections. They sang, "Desi, Desi, you should 'a rig, you should 'a rig". Now violent means are being used, with violence directed against Indians only, yet the PPP/Civic government does not want to investigate the nature of the violence, racial violence directed exclusively against Indians. PPP/Civic is still in denial, still talking "working class" but sustains a Ministry of African Affairs with an unknown budget. If the years of Burnham/Hoyte are recognised as a black minority dictatorship then deliberate steps must be taken to include Indians in the army and police force. This security issue is most important since democracy cannot be preserved without it. Race problems will not disappear in Guyana, but can be dealt with over a period of time provided that an open, free democratic society is preserved and is entrenched. The small black minority has to be dealt with in due course and firmly so if it threatens anarchy. Indefinite patience and appeasement cannot work on a small minority which has confidence in its strength and views the state and government as weak. Guyana continues to be relevant to Trinidad where the similarities are so great, and where our de facto Minister of African Affairs Sadiq Baksh now wants to name the UNC's new airport after Eric Williams.
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