Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:46 AM
Dec 12, 2012 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
This is the conclusion of my commentary on Ralph Ramkarran’s very bold and commendable analysis of the future of the PPP. To recap; in the economic realm, I did not see, contrary to Mr. Ramkarran, the failure of the PPP to substantially improve the well-being of the working people as a result of a harsh capitalist world that limited the redistribution of wealth to favour the poorer classes.
Secondly, in the area of political deportment, I will argue that the situational factors Mr. Ramkarran cited as the reason for bad governance, lack of transparency and corruption is secondary. My theory revolves around the congenital factor, that the PNC and the PPP were doomed to become tyrannies or oligarchies, because from birth, they emerged with an authoritarian culture that they became helpless prisoners of.
In my first installment I opined that if the PNC comes back to power, it will again become authoritarian. The PPP Government will face formidable challenges to its rule but there will not be compromises, concessions and reaching out, because it is trapped in its ancient understanding of power.
Mr. Ramkarran ended his assessment with a strong hope that the PPP pull back from the brink, start the rebuilding process and acknowledge its wrong ways. Sadly, I believe this search will end in futility, and this is because by its very nature, an authoritarian regime does not understand the concepts associated with democratic use of power.
Before I look back at the early PPP after the split with Mr. Burnham, a little example is in order. A top-ranking PNC leader said the following to me about the PNC; “Freddie what can you do; the leader is the party, the leader decides everything.” This was after the vote to choose the presidential candidate. He is right. This was and is how the PNC and PPP emerged and how they are today.
While there cannot be any doubt that the PPP’s interaction with rapacious economic strata and powerful oligarchic families prevented the birth of a tight integrity process in the administration of state affairs after 1992, and while it cannot be doubted that the PPP lost patience with opposition demands, a regime of intolerance and autocratic behaviour would still have emerged, because the PPP never had access to democratic culture. The authoritarian way of life is all it has known since the split with Burnham.
The PPP’s political culture was not essentially informed by Marx’s philosophical outlay. There is nothing in Marx’s copious writing about detailed definitions of what democracy and justice would be like after the revolution. It was Lenin, and subsequently Stalin and later Chairman Mao, who gave meaning to these concepts and they were all antithetical to western philosophical interpretations of freedom and justice.
The PPP’s Marxism was Leninist, Stalinist and Maoist and Marxist. The closest a western philosopher came to Leninism and Stalinism was Hobbes. But Hobbes is greatly misunderstood. Hobbes did not argue for a tight and all-embracing social contract. He specifically left room for rebellion against the Leviathan.
In Leninism and Stalinism, the Leviathan was the vanguard party, the vanguard party was the revolution and the revolution was the apex of history’s truths. The vanguard party then was infallible.
When in a western country like British Guiana, a political party is born with that kind of political culture, the result can only be a contempt for western meaning of freedom, justice and democracy. This was the PPP for you under the two Jagans from the fifties onwards right up to today.
The humanists and democrats in the company of the Jagans left like mangoes falling off a tree. The list is extremely long but a few notable names were Eusi Kwayana, Balram Singh Rai, Martin Carter, Joycelyn Hubbard, Moses Bhagwan, Fenton Ramsahoye etc. Ashton Chase saw what was coming and parted company on a friendly note.
In the PPP congresses, democracy never existed. The Jagans would fix elections to elevate those that they wanted. This was the complaint Rai made against Jagan when the vote was manipulated to put Brindley Benn in front of Rai.
Mr. Yesu Persaud told me an interesting story shortly after Dr. Jagan became President. Jagan asked the private sector for names of people that could assist the new government with state administration. Mr. Persaud told me well-known names of people on the list who had opposed the PNC Government but were not PPP, Dr. Jagan did not invite to work with his government.
Space has run out. The conclusion is until it loses power, the PPP will not democratize. By nature it cannot. It doesn’t know how to.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
Apr 19, 2024
SportsMax – West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews delivered a stellar all-round performance to lead her team to a commanding 113-run victory over Pakistan Women in the first One Day...Kaieteur Sports – The South Turkeyen Sports Committee, in collaboration with Johnny Barnwell, popularly known as “Overseas,”... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]