Reference is made to Andre Brandli’s letters published in the Stabroek News editions of January
20, 2024 with the caption… “I have rarely read such sychophantic pamphlet praising a political
leader in a country that considers itself a liberal democracy”, and on January 22, 2024 with the
caption…”readers of SN and myself will appreciate clarification of these ten questions on the
‘Jagdeo Doctrine’”.
Prof. Brandli unleashed an unmannerly attack against Dr. Randy Persaud, a noted professor of
international relations who is now Adviser on International Affairs in the Office of the President.
Brandli takes issue with Professor Persaud’s characterization of General Secretary Jagdeo’s
call for a broadening of the base of the PPP.
It is of paramount importance to establish at the outset that Brandli’s attempt to sublty and
cleverly infer that the President, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Vice President, Dr.
Bharrat Jagdeo are misaligned, is a misguided inference on the part of Brandli. This is consistent
with an observable strategy of the political opposition that they had attempted in the recent past,
which failed simply because there is no truth to that notion. The truth, however, is that Dr. Brandli
et.al., are profoundly ignorant on the subject of the politics of the PPP/C as a political entity and
by extension the Guyanese political economy.
Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is to President Ali, what the late Dr. Roger Luncheon was to
former President Bharrat Jagdeo. So, there is no misalignment or any defacto leader as Brandli
wants readers to believe. In other words, the role of the Vice President in the President Ali led
PPP/C Government is consistent with the politics of the PPP/C since 1992. Moreover, Dr.
Bharrat Jagdeo is the current General Secretary of the PPP/C, and it was in this context that Dr.
Persaud’s essay was framed―in respect of broadening the base of the PPP/C as a political
institution. This was taken completely out of context by Brandli, and at the time of writing, V.
Bisram who joined the debate
Be that as it may, there is absolutely nothing unusual about anyone highlighting the positives of
a political leader in a praise worthy manner, especially in a democratic system. In many societies,
political leaders are revered, which is not unsual. In fact, there are volumes of literature,
academic journals and books written about Guyanese politicians, namely: the late Dr. Cheddie
B. Jagan (PPP/C), L.F.S Burnham, and Desmond Hoyte.
Interestingly, Dr. Brandli resides in and works in Germany for most of his life, according to him,
yet he is perhaps unaware that there are many documentaries and literature written about the
infamous dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler. Thus, why does he have a problem about anyone
writing about Bharrat Jagdeo, whose biography has thus far not been documented, but will be
documented.
Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is indisputably the most accomplished politician in the region, and his track
record of accomplishments, as illustrated hereunder, is incomparable. His Presidency of the
Cooperative Republic of Guyana was in an era whereby the challenges of that time were vastly
different in contrast to those that characterise the current environment. Equally, President Ali, in
just three years has grown in popularity inexplicably rapidly, not only at home but globally. He
has ascended to becoming a globally recognised and revered leader in just three years into his
presidency. Indeed, his legacy and his accomplishments will be incomparable as well.
Turning now to his follow-up letter, Brandli posed ten questions to Dr. Randy Persaud, eight of
which were inconsequential and nonsensical. Notwithstanding, two out of the ten questions, I
would like to frontally address herein.
The first question I would like to address is (Q5) where he asked… “could Dr. Randy Persaud
identify five papers authored by Bharrat Jagdeo in economics, which were peer reviewed and
published in journals of regional or international standing”? This question exposed Dr. Brandli’s
fundamental illiteracy on these matters. In any profession, there are those who operate in
academia and those who become practitioners. In this case, there are economists who are not
practitioners, but work in academia conducting research and publishing in peer-reviewed
journals, and there are practitioners who actually work in policymaking. Dr. Jagdeo is not an
acacemic economist, he is an accomplished practicing economist of the highest order.
The second question I would like to address is (Q6) where he asked…”it is common knowledge
that the PPP continued the Hoyte/Greenidge Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) after they
took power in 1992. What are the differences between the ERP and the Jagdeo doctrine? Please
explain to the readers”. Well, it is this author’s most esteemed privilege in taking the liberty to
explain this to Brandli et.al., chiefly since there are some misconceptions about the ERP.
Strictly speaking, Brandli asked the wrong question. The questions that Brandli should really ask
are how and why did the ERP came about? The ERP was engineered consequentially owing to
the fact that it was the PNC Government under the leadership of L.F.S Burnham who bankrupted
the economy, attributed to egregious macroeconomic policies and management altogether.
Following his demise, he was succeeded by the late Desmond Hoyte, by which time the
economy was already bankrupt and needed to be rescued. Hoyte then had no choice but to
immediately engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist with a bailout package. The
IMF then ochestrated the ERP programme, which was imposed upon the Hoyte administration
as the only option for the “commencement of economic recovery”, not full recovery.
The PNC along with their apologists such as Brandli have always hasten to take credit for the
ERP. Nevertheless, the fact is that the ERP is nothing sophisticated or fantastic that requires
exceptional brain power to put together. The ERP basically was a two-pronged strategy: (1) it
imposed austerity measures, this was where the size of the public service shrank because that
involved terminating public servants as part of the austerity measures (cutting costs). Further,
this explained why free university education was no longer free as it was part of the cost cutting
measures, inter alia, the ERP. And (2) the economy was a socially planned economy; more than
80% of the economy was owned and controlled by the State, hence the privatization of State
assets became necessary. In other words, liquidation of State assets aimed at generating
liquidity, which aided the commencement of a long journey of economic recovery. As such, the
ERP could not have singularly achieved full economic recovery and stability.
With respect to the obtainment of full economic recovery and stability, this was where the
“Jagdeo doctrine”, as Brandli puts it, was birthed following the 1992 elections which was won by
the PPP/C. As the finance minister at that time, Dr. Jagdeo was instrumental in negotiating debt
forgiveness from many of the country’s creditors. This played a pivotal role in the journey of
economic recovery.
In 1994, the PPP/C government embarked on the formulation of a national development
strategy, which was finalized in 1996. This strategy’s incremental implementation commenced
immediately thereafter in 1997 to the present PPP/C Government. It is public knowledge that the
1996 national development strategy was led by Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo as the finance minister, which
was followed by the poverty reduction strategy, followed by the national competiveness strategy,
followed by the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) (2009), to the current expanded
version of LCDS, all of which were led by Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo. So when Brandli asks Dr. Persaud
to identify five peer reviewed academic papers, these were five (5) pragmatic policy papers, and
implementable development strategies that were led by the Vice President, previously in his
capacity as a former finance minister and former president.
By the time the former President Dr. Jagdeo completed his second term, the economy’s debtto-GDP was reduced from 900% (1992) to less than 50% (2011), debt service to revenue ratio
reduced from over 150% to 30%, inflation was reduced from 87% (1992) to 2% (2011), interest
rates reduced from 30% (1992) to 11% (2011), exchange rates stablised at $200, foreign
reserves stood at US$750 million representing 5 months import cover from zero in 1992, GDP
moved from US$300 million to US$3.7 billion (2011), per capita income increased from US$500,
to US$4,900.
From inheriting a bankrupt economy with practically zero savings in the bank, the former
President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo exited Government leaving a total of G$101 billion liquid cash in
the Government Deposit Accounts in the banking sector at the end of 2011. This amount, when
adjusted for present value (PV) is worth G$150 billion in today’s money. Resultantly, the sum
total held in the Government Deposit Accounts together with the foreign reserve balance of
US$750 million, would give rise to a total of G$252.5 billion (2011 value), with a PV of $348.5
billion. Of key note, this remarkable achievement was accomplished with zero oil money and
zero oil discovery more than a decade ago under the stewardship of former President Dr. Bharrat
Jagdeo. Furthermore, the political opposition consistently sought to destablise his government.
To this end, a few key events of such were as follows:
- 1992–1997: there was a short period of street protests and violence having restored
democracy, following which the economy took off (short period of stability). - 1997–2001: prolonged street protests and disruption.
- 2002–2003: prison break, crime wave spiraled out of control and politically motivated
disruptions. - 2004–2008: unrests, politically motivated disruptions.
- 2008–2012: Lusignan, Lindo Creek, Bartica massacre, violence erupted when protestors
blocked the Wismar Mckenzie bridge.
It is worth noting, too, that together with the foregoing political challenges, there was the adverse
economic impact engendered by the 2005 floods (natural disaster) that resulted in a loss of 60%
of GDP. Yet, in spite of all of the aforementioned challenges, former President Jagdeo managed
to achieve all of the previously mentioned economic conditions and financial viability and
stability.
Brandli’s attack on Dr. Persaud was unfortunate. He (Brandli) may have inadvertently set aside
his supposedly scholastic faculties of thinking, failing to reflect for a moment that in so doing, he
has exposed his inherent idiosyncratic weaknesses. Most ludicrously, nine out of every ten
letters authored by Dr. Brandli, he dedicates at least two elongated paragraphs about his
academic credentials and experience. Only an inordinately insecure academic of Dr. Brandli’s
stature would inadvertently diminish his academic standing to self-agrandizement, to the extent
of vehemently craving validation of some sort from the powers that be.