I recently moderated a social media discussion titled, ‘Rigged Elections and Democracy in Guyana’ on Globepsan 24 owned by Mr. Nohar Singh with technical operator Devin Bissoon. It was an excellent discussion on history of electoral fraud and institutionalizing democracy in Guyana. I consider myself as a specialist on the subject having been an activist for ‘Free and Fair Election’ (FFE) and a proponent of democracy from 1968 onwards and written extensively on the matter including countless articles on the 2020 attempted fraud. Elections were rigged in Guyana between 1966 and 1992 and an attempt was made to rig the 2020 elections. I was in the midst of the struggle to combat electoral frauds and restoration of democratic rule in Guyana. I am also familiar with the history of the activism of three of the four speakers on the subject having collaborated with them at various times in anti-dictatorial struggle in Guyana and in the diaspora.
Though we may belong on different sides on political affiliation and on ideology, the public needs be reminded of and salute the contributions of David Hinds, Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi Dev, and myself as well as others in the struggle for FFE. I was a key participant in the battle for democracy as well as in the 2020 controversial elections with behind the scenes activism and influence that led to the accurate counting of the ballots to reflect the will of the voters and the declaration of the PPP as the victorious party and Irfaan Ali as President.
Without the kind of struggle mentioned above, it is uncertain whether Guyana would have been a democracy and whether the PPP would have been able to win government in 1992 and in fact be in government today. It would be most ungrateful, the height of neemakharamism, not to recognize and salute the work of those who helped restore democracy in Guyana. Those who partook in the struggle for FFE and democracy in Guyana came from several political parties, all opposed to the PNC at the time..
David Hinds, a WPA ‘leader’, was from the early 1970s subjected to harassment and violence as well as imprisonment for his role in championing FFE. As a university student in America, Hinds continued that struggle both as an academic and as a grass roots activist and still does so till today. I encountered him multiple times in NY and Washington in protests and at conferences during the 1980s and 1990s. He also penned some outstanding articles on the subject and on varied topics in the weekly Caribbean Daylight newspaper and in other publications. He was a champion of democracy,
Baytoram and I met as 17 year old students in 1977 at City College (in New York) where we were tutored and influenced in political science by Vassan and Rennie Ramracha and together we launched a Indian Caribbean organization as well as pioneered the struggle for FFE from the campus. Initially, our struggle began on campus, the first of its kind in a university in America and globally, and expanded nationally and internationally as we expanded contacts and the movement itself. Ramharack was among the best writers of that era with Vassan, Rennie, and myself chipping in occasionally with handouts. And our theoretical publications as well as activism was unmatched by other groups, being on the streets weekends and holidays to apprise the world of human rights abuses in Guyana. We lobbied Congress and the White House to support our position for restoration of democracy in Guyana. Washington paid heed to us because of our pro-American position on geo-strategic interests.
Prior to our pioneering efforts, Arjune Karshan and Chuck Mohan were active in left wing socialist movements to alert the American public of rights violations and lack of democracy in Guyana. They were subsequently joined by others in the launching of the ACG, support group of the PPP in the early 1980s. Hinds who was joined by Rohit Kanhai, Lincoln Van Sertima, Kenneth Persaud and others to form the WPA Support Group during the late 1980s. Our group and others organized protests, rallies, marches, picketing exercises and produced publications related to Guyana from 1978 onwards.
Ravi Dev became involved in the anti-dictatorial struggle mid 1980s through the formation of the short lived Guyana United Democratic Movement. Dev and our group would merge operating under Jaguar Committee for Democracy (JCD). Other support groups linked to URP, DLM, NRP, TUF, etc. were also formed in USA around 1990. All the groups collaborated at various times in the movement for FFE. But the most active was ACG and JCD. The JCD was a right of center, pro-USA group unlike the ACG and WPA that were left wing. Our groups was also very active in Guyana and we were harassed and intimidated throughout the country as we conducted opinion surveys and engaged in anti-dictatorial activities. The other groups were also right of center. Political parties in Guyana were beneficiaries of our activism. Ramharack, Dev, Vassan, Rennie, and myself spent considerable amount of time in Guyana during school breaks from New York in political activism in Guyana. Our activities were monitored by government agents and spies. We were harassed and intimidated. While praising us for our activism, the public avoided meeting with us during the day fearing the consequences from the government. Putting up at homes of some people was problematic and as such we had to stay at hotels and guest houses to protect supporters from being targeted for intimidation and violence. It was a long struggle of which the beneficiaries didn’t show much gratitude.
I am not familiar with the political history or activism of Mr Roysdale Forde, the fourth participant of the discussion; he is much younger than us and probably would not have been familiar with our activism. In opinion surveys I conducted for NACTA, Forde consistently polled the highest support as potential leader of PNC since mid 2022 to succeed Aubrey Norton who has been lagging behind Irfaan Ali in popularity and voter support. Ali outpolled Norton in every survey. Norton does not have cross-ethnic support; Ali has some cross-racial support and will face a humiliating defeat if he were to be the candidate of APNU (PNC) against Ali or any other PPP candidate. PNC leadership election has been overdue since last December and Norton has promised one by August. Forde comes across like a leader, and the surveys showed he has cross over support unlike several others (like Amanza Walton-Desir and Volda Lawrence) in the PNC.
In last Feb 28 Wednesday evening program, Forde, like the others, was very articulate and strong in his political convictions. He was very sharp and analytical. He put his clever lawyerly skills on display.
As Alexander’s letter suggested, there was agreement that rigging took place in Guyanese elections but not which side is responsible. Hinds stated there is no single guilty party. No political party realistically could have obtained more than 55% because of racial affiliation of voting patterns. At best PNC, could muster 42%. Yet PNC claimed between 69% and 80% of votes at different elections. That was impossible.
As Dr Ramharack asserted, there was not only rigging of national elections, but internal party elections as well.
Both major parties will hold internal elections later this year — PPP in May and PNC by August. We await with bathed breath for the outcomes.
