By Malcolm Parris CCH-The past two weeks have seen two important correspondences around the legacy of the Founder Leader, Forbes Burnham, and my party, the People’s National Congress.
The first relates to unfortunate statements on electoral rigging by my long-time senior colleague, Hamilton Greene. Rather than speculate on his intentions, I note President Ali’s statement https://demerarawaves.com/2024/02/23/no-more-election-rigging-in-guyana-pres-ali/, a timely confirmation that both major parties have engaged in electoral malpractices and a determination that we close the chapter on this regrettable national pastime.
Perhaps with an eye to the looming PPP Congress, former President Ramotar reportedly issued a sharp commentary on our evolving political economy.
Let me first acknowledge his removal of a strictly partisan lens from parts of what is a broadly Marxist analysis of our country’s trajectory.
Further, I join him in condemning the nurturers of ethnic nationalism. And just as there were spasms of afro-chauvinism when we were in power, he correctly, if inexhaustibly, identifies past and the current rise in casual and systemic indo-chauvinism in Guyana.
This weekend, the PPP loyalists will convene at Babu John for an important partisan homecoming. We look forward to the leadership’s reiteration of a truly One Nation ethos, and for them to push back against the tide of indo-triumphalism which is gathering overt momentum and, if unchecked, will provoke a backlash.
But Comrade Ramotar saves his best for a very personal critique of the Founder Leader. In summary, he asserts that Burnham was a selfishly scheming imperialist pawn, incapable of making progressive social and economic decisions for the Nation.
Comrade Editor, some historical perspective. Like most of us, Burnham began his political career as a left of centre middle class nationalist. Jagan’s orientation, buttressed by his marriage, was rigidly communist. One of their first disagreements was on the notion of building ‘a socialist colony.’ It was/is a contradiction in terms – how does one transform the economic relationships across society with the limited franchise self-government offered?
More prudently, why tug at the tail of an already enraged Cold Warrior American, in their geo-political sphere of influence? The accelerated independence, and concomitant acquisition of greater latitude to shape Guyana’s destiny, was Burnham’s objective, and he succeeded!
The CIA files confirm that Burnham sought and secured assistance in the fight for internal political ascendancy. I can confirm that during my stint as Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987-91), my hosts frequently made clear that the PPP and Jagan received a multiple of that which the West doled out to Burnham. The Soviets would proudly point to Gimpex in Regent Street as one of the enduring monuments of fraternal collaboration with the PPP. And their collaboration in infiltrating guns and other small arms on the boats which exported rice continued long after we attained independence.
My point is simple. The political competition did not pit good David against bad Goliath. It was a struggle between two Davids, who sought assistance wherever it could be found in the context of their different analyses of the then global geopolitics. The PNC and PPP tacked Cold War’s winds in search of ascendancy.
In future I will address the ahistorical and context-free contention that Burnham was an incompetent manager of our economy, and other issues.
But I will end by reminding the former President that his hero not only fully endorsed the nationalisation of the commanding heights of our economy and the establishment of the network of cooperatives across the economy, but eagerly embraced a much broader patriotic collaboration. This was his enthusiastic agreement to become Burnham’s Prime Minister in a deal thwarted by the Leader’s untimely death. Our newly appointed ambassador to Venezuela will attest to this missed opportunity.
So, Comrade Ramotar, could Burnham have been the unprincipled imperialist lackey, and yet the principled Jagan agree to serve his vision of crafting One People, One Nation, One Destiny? I believe we owe the country’s future a much more tempered and facts-led examination of our nation’s layered past.
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About the author
Malcolm Parris CCH was a Minister of Education in the People’s National Congress government and also served as Ambassador to the Soviet Union
