At Babu John ceremony
President recalls Dr Jagan’s leadership role in restoration of democracy
Stories by Chamanlall Naipaul
Guyana Chronicle
March 7, 2004
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo, recalling the long and hard struggle for the restoration of free and fair elections, democracy and a free press in Guyana, emphasised the leading role played by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) under the leadership of the late and revered President Dr. Cheddi Jagan.
Speaking Friday at the commemoration ceremony of the sixth death anniversary of Dr. Jagan at Babu John, Port Mourant where the body of the late leader was cremated, the President recalled that he was a man who people even with little contact would “fall in love” with him.
He told the large gathering of the pride and honour he felt when he was asked by the man he described as an “institution in Guyana” to serve in his Cabinet.
Responding to the critics who claim that democracy does not only mean free and fair elections, the President said the PPP agrees with this and that is why the constitution was reformed to expand fundamental rights and to make the Parliament a more deliberative body. He added the present constitution of Guyana enshrines more rights than any other country in the British Commonwealth.
Dealing on the issue of some sections of society being hostile to the PPP, the President assured that despite the hostility, the party would not be denied the freedom of expression because that is one of the fundamental rights for which it struggled. However, he stressed that it will fight back when lies and distortions are peddled against it.
He castigated those media houses and sections of the society which are opposed to the PPP, contending that they would only become satisfied when the PPP loses an election, and the calls for an expansion of democracy is only a camouflage in furthering their hidden agenda.
He charged that opponents of the PPP have forgotten the days when newsprint had to be smuggled into the country and the judiciary was under the directive of the political directorate.
He reminded opponents too of the hundreds of activists who spent countless hours in prison and those who died in the struggle for free and fair elections and the restoration of democracy.
The President also reiterated the PPP’s commitment to peacefully resolving differences, adding that it feels that going to the table is the best way towards of doing so.
However, he made it clear that dialogue must not be seen as a sign of weakness but that the PPP sees this as the way of moving the country forward.