Senior Counsel Hoyte, who died last December 22 and was accorded a State funeral on December 30, was eulogised again in a crowded courtroom where Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice of Appeal Desiree Bernard presided.

Among those listening were the widow, Mrs. Joyce Hoyte, Appellate and High Court judges, retired Chancellors and judges, Ombudsman S.Y. Mohamed, magistrates and practising lawyers.

Attorney General (AG) Doodnauth Singh, S.C., Guyana Bar Association President Nigel Hughes, Berbice Bar Association President Joseph Anamayah, Guyana Women Lawyers' Association President Roxanne George and other Senior Counsel Clarence Hughes and Oliver Valz spoke on the occasion.

First to speak, AG Singh recalled that, when Hoyte became President in 1985, he inherited an economy that was bankrupt and there had been no free and fair elections but, as stated in the spate of media contributions, he had the fortitude, despite opposition in his own party, to introduce "a period of glasnost and perestroika" that reversed the failed policy of State capitalism and introduction of a programme of privatisation and encouragement of new investment.

Mr. Singh, who was subsequently named Chairman of the Elections Commission from a list of candidates submitted by Mr. Hoyte, said the latter promoted "the primacy of private enterprise" and, within two years as Head of State and Government, was ready to show the foresight to "dismantle an economy that passed for State capitalism".

Singh said that led to the "massive influx of capital resulting in the giant economic ventures of Barama and Omai Gold Mines Limited" which provided employment for large numbers of Guyanese and contributed to the national coffers.

"It is to Mr. Hoyte's credit that he engineered the liberalisation of the economy. He reopened negotiations with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Eventually, there was the recommencement of bilateral assistance and rescheduling of the external debt.

"His Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) was the vehicle by which the country was returned to free enterprise and a market-oriented economy. For this, the United Kingdom Prime Minister praised him, saying: `You have shown great resolve in implementing the programme under difficult circumstances'," Singh pointed out.

He also said: "There was privatisation of State-owned entities and encouragement of foreign investment. Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) came to the scene. He repealed the Exchange Control Act and passed social legislation beneficial particularly to women and reintroduced the importation of basic food items that were banned."

"Mr. Hoyte fostered freedom of the Press. Approval was given for the establishment of Stabroek News, which is, probably, today Guyana's premier newspaper and, with this, the stagnant years of State-controlled media ended, wafting in the freedom wind of change."

Singh declared that, in effect, Hoyte returned Guyana to democracy.

"Under him, in the words of Ian McDonald, Guyana had rejoined the mainstream of West Indian democratic life where, in principle and largely in practice, the full range of basic human rights is protected.

"That alone assures him of honour in our annals and, in the words of a Caribbean journalist, capped the most shining moment of Hoyte's seven-year Presidency," Singh acknowledged.

GBA President Hughes looked at the state of the legal profession at the time Hoyte left it and compared then with when he died.

"I believe that it is only after the completion of a critical analysis of the advancements we have made, if any and or the reversal of fortune suffered by the Bar that we can identify the weaknesses of our profession and, thereafter, proceed to pay true honour to our outstanding colleagues, by embarking upon a course of action designed to consolidate and improve the level at which we practise and the quality of legal services we provide."

Hughes said, when Hoyte ceased practising in 1969, the quality of jurisprudence in the realm was second to none in the region and favourably considered in the rest of the world.

"Judges were afforded a quality of life and a standard of income which facilitated the attraction of the best and the brightest to the Bench.

"Today, the reversal of fortune suffered by our honourable profession is manifest and may not survive a candid review.

"Appointments to the Judiciary have been stymied and or frustrated, the remuneration of the Judiciary remains challenged, law reports are in excess of two decades in arrears, the absence of contemporary and appropriate technology compares adversely with the proportions of a Greek tragedy and the justice delivery system is on vacation.

"It is self-evident that, if our legal system cannot deliver to the many who are poor, the rule of law and order will soon bid us a sad and ultimate farewell," Hughes said.

Anamayah said, when Hoyte lost power in 1992, he announced that his party, in keeping with democracy, will accept the results of poll and he expected all citizens to accept the political development, maintain a peaceful and harmonious climate and keep the welfare and good name of Guyana foremost in mind.

George, in her addition, said, while his life as President and statesman and Leader of the Opposition cannot be forgotten and has been revered in the many tributes to him since his sudden passing, they were yesterday celebrating Hoyte the legal luminary, as one who contributed in no mean order to the development of the jurisprudence in Guyana and the (Caribbean) region.

Mr. Clarence Hughes, a close friend of Hoyte's, remembered that, in August 1985 when Mr. (Forbes) Burnham died, within three weeks of becoming President, Hoyte announced the appointment of seven new SCs.

Hughes, who was one of them, noted that there had been no such appointments for 10 years and it was a clear signal to the Bar that Hoyte intended to put right the injustice which had been done over those years.

It was the largest number of SCs appointed on any one occasion.

Continuing to speak of Hoyte, Hughes said: "Throughout his entire life, he was never accused of corruption or engaging in corrupt practices. He maintained his reputation as a man of integrity and rectitude throughout his careers, both as lawyer and politician.

"In summary, I would say that Desmond Hoyte was an excellent lawyer. He was a lawyer's lawyer, a brilliant orator, a formidable classical scholar, an undoubted intellectual and a highly cultured gentleman."

Valz said, in the maelstrom of economic contradictions, Hoyte, as Executive President, showed courage, intellectual grandeur and a spectacular proclivity for coping with a pervasive conundrum.

"He legalised the importation of formerly prohibited items and removed foreign exchange controls.

"Most of all, he became the first head of a socialist government anywhere in the world to liberalise the country's economy. Long before Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union or the many others, he saw the wisdom of departing from ideology and dogma and promulgating, instead, the practicality of giving true leadership and direction to the aspirations and preferences of his people.

"In the words of a popular jingle, he had made a U-turn to win. Hoyte had a vision of a Guyana for all the Guyanese people. He made a conscious effort to make Guyana a unitary rather than a pluralistic state.

"His preoccupation was so pronounced that he earned the sobriquet of 'Desmond Persaud'," Valz said.

Chancellor Bernard said Hoyte was a "disciplined and well-ordered" individual, qualities which he employed to the fullest in his legal career.

"Decency and respect for others were his stock-in-trade. Crudity and boorishness were never evident in his appearance on behalf of his clients before the honourable judges and magistrates of the day. Culture and good manners came naturally to him.

"His incisive mind and relentless pursuit of the truth, in his quest for justice for his clients, were amply demonstrated in both civil and criminal matters."

She said, although his practice was mainly in the civil field, he did appear in a few criminal cases.

All those who paid Hoyte tribute extended their condolences to his sorrowing widow, Joyce, brother George and sisters Rona and Patsy, as well as other relatives and friends.