Clearly, the PPP’s leaders must be thrilled because in many ways the 32nd Congress ranks as one of the most successful congresses of a political party ever in Guyana’s history. It also is, arguably, one of the most successful ever in the history of political parties in CARICOM. Not only was it the largest ever in Guyana’s history, it is difficult to find another party congress larger anywhere in the Caribbean. But the unity, enthusiasm and confidence that oozed out of the congress were felt not only by the members present, not only by the supporters of the PPP in Guyana and in the diaspora, but clearly frustrated and stressed out its opponents. The PNC, AFC and other political parties took note and became despondent. The many anti-PPP commentators have been stunned into either silence or sunk into the abyss of fault-finding.
At the very beginning of the Congress, while clutching for some straw to avoid drowning, the PNC came out with the absurd statement denouncing the use of the Convention Center and the flying of the PPP’s flags at the Convention Center. The National Convention Center, like Convention Centers in every single country, is used not just for state events. Corporations, other groups, including religious groups, usually rent convention centers to conduct their business or hold mass events. During these events, the organizing groups fly flags, if they have flags, and decorate with their paraphernalia. Ther is nothing unusual in this.
The PPP, given that its membership has grown and that it anticipated the largest congress ever, looked to find a suitable location and concluded that the Convention Center was fit-for-purpose. The PPP’s executive, therefore, proceeded to rent the convention center to hold its 32nd Congress. Other political parties could also seek to rent the convention center. During the period of the rental agreement, the convention center was sacred ground for the PPP. It was free to fly its flags. It did and the scenery in and around the convention center was simply spectacular.
The PNC’s denunciation was simply unfounded and disgustingly hypocritical. When the convention center is being used to host parliament, the Guyana flag flutter proudly. There has never been a PPP flag flown in its full glory at the convention center when parliament is in session. In no public building has the PPP flag ever flown officially. Given the circumstances where the convention center was rented by the PPP, the party had every right to fly its flag proudly. No law or no convention was violated by anything that the PPP did during its 32nd Congress.
Those who believe the PPP violated any law should challenge in court.
But if there is an organization that should never make this an issue, it is the PNC. In making this an issue, the PNC merely added to its considerable credential of hypocrisy. But then again, Burnham’s party carries hypocrisy around as a badge of honor. This is the party that enshrined party paramountcy as a part of its governance. As part of that governance model, the PNC hoisted its flag over state buildings and institutions, such as the Supreme Court of Guyana. Does the PNC think we will ever forget these egregious acts? This is a party that spent hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ monies to paint buildings green, branding government with the colors of the PNC, even violating the convention of colors for State House, when they colored the State House green. It went so far as to intimidate people to paint their own homes green and to paint their vehicles green in order to show support.
Public servants were intimidated into wearing green clothes. Certain government institutions, in fact, required persons to wear green uniforms. No Guyanese citizen has forgotten this.
But the desperation to find something they can criticize forced Aubrey Norton to make a long statement in which all he could find to criticize about the PPP’s 32nd Congress was that the PPP violated the law. This is the party that is not timid when it comes to ridiculousness, like 32 is greater than 33.
Now, one of their MPs, Sherod Duncan from the AFC, alleges that the Prime Minister, Mark Phillips, was sidelined at the Congress. The allegation shows that Duncan is ignorant or stupid. Either of these possibilities show that the opposition is not ready for the big time. The truth is the PM was not eligible to be on the ballot for delegates to vote for him. The PM is a member of the Civic component of the PPP/C coalition. The PPP has honored its 1992 contract with the Guyanese people and a member of the CIVIC is always the PM candidate for the PPP. Between 1992 and 2015, Sam Hinds held that position and was the leader of the CIVIC. Elizabeth Harper occupied that position in 2015. In 2020, Mark Phillips took up the challenge of being the PPP’s nominee for the PM position. He has served as Sam Hinds did with distinction and has become an adored member of the PPP/C Cabinet. At the Congress, PM Phillips had a front seat with President Irfaan Ali and VP and GS, Bharat Jagdeo. Although Congress was for PPP delegates, PM Phillips was welcomed to participate throughout the Congress.
The PNC/APNU/AFC are digging in the proverbial muck to find something they can criticize. The same Duncan shamelessly asked where are the SOPs to show who got what votes during the congress. The PPP’s election went smoothly, and the results were available almost immediately and fully published. But the PNC/APNU/AFC, almost four years later, is still hiding its copies of the SOP from Election 2020. It is sheer hypocrisy.
The commentators are finding all kinds of muck in order to say something negative. They now are renewing the old, worn-out arguments of “isms” to insist that the PPP has abandoned Cheddi Jagan’s principles and values. For one, they insist that the PPP has abandoned its working-class credentials, something that Cheddi Jagan scrupulously guarded. The 32nd Congress of the PPP, far from it, reiterated and emphasized its working-class ideology and commitment. It is why the PPP has created more than 70,000 jobs since August 2020, put back to work all the sugar and bauxite workers that the PNC/APNU/AFC sent home during 2015-2020, and has increased public servants’ salaries and benefits. It has also increased minimum wages for private sector and increased the income tax threshold for all workers in Guyana.
The removal of references in the constitution to Leninism/Marxism/Socialism through a resolution at the 32nd Congress is not a denunciation of socialism. It is aligning better the party’s founding principle of ideological and economic pluralism. The PPP has always maintained that the private sector is the engine of growth in our country. It is the PPP that totally dismantled the PNC’s model of the State in command of the heights of the economy and shifted it to the private sector. While aggressively pursuing the social justice agenda and the working-class credentials of the party, the 32nd Congress sought to bring clarity to its dedication to ideological and economic pluralism.
The truth is that the gathering of delegates from every nook and cranny of our country, people representing all races, all economic grouping, all religious section of our country presented a great consternation for the opposition and the anti-PPP commentators. It has left them confused and searching for something to find fault. The truth is that both the political opposition and the usual suspects, the anti-PPP lunatic fringe, were left scratching their head and disheartened because what they saw was a harbinger for Election 2025, signaling of the biggest ever political victory in any free and fair election in Guyana. What they saw forced them to acknowledge that the challenge for the opposition is whether the opposition can keep the PPP to an electoral victory with less than 36 seats. Congress 32 tells the country and the world that the PPP will emerge with a victory greater than36 seats.
Burnham is restless in his grave as he sees those he left in charge has destroyed his party. Cheddi and Janet Jagan, Boysie Ramkarran, Brindley Benn, Hubbard, Jacobs, Chase and many others are smiling, proud of what they created, sustained and left. They must be proud of those that carry on, staying faithful to the principles and values they embraced when the PPP was launched on January 1, 1950, but continuously positioning the party to be fit-for-purpose in changing times.