Category: Letters to the editor

Dear Editor,

At the request of the Ukrainian President, the Swiss government organised a Peace Summit last weekend. The Summit, attended by around 100 countries and multilateral organisations from around the world, had as its purpose, finding a path to peace in Ukraine which for over two years has been battling to repel the Russian invasion of its territory.

Attendees included leading countries of the world such as Brazil, Canada, France, France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the UK and the USA, as well as organisations such as the EU, OAS and the United Nations. Russia which had opposed the idea of such a Summit was not invited and there is no indication that its enablers China, Iran and North Korea were invited. For completeness, it is noted that several of these named  countries did not sign the Summit’s closing statement. That however is not entirely relevant to the purpose of this letter.

Guyana was not among the countries attending the Summit, meaning that it was a missed opportunity by the Government to engage in bilateral discussions with other countries on the Venezuelan threat to Guyana. Guyana must recognise that no amount of military spending will allow the country to repel any invasion by that country. In as much that we were impressed by the US fighter jets flying across Guyana as a show of strength and support, Guyana’s best guarantee in its controversy with Venezuela is to canvas and garner diplomatic support of countries that matter. Guyana shares with Ukraine and Taiwan the danger of being overrun by a neighbouring bully.

The country has not one but two foreign ministers and has recently made two diplomatic appointments to Europe. The failure must therefore be seen not as unavailability of personnel but of policy and intent. Indeed, having delegated to his Vice President the task of managing the fallout from the US announcement of sanctions against its former friends and members, President Ali should have been free to represent Guyana at the Summit.  

In my view, Guyana should be seeking membership of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the Rio Treaty) signed in 1947. The essential features of this Treaty are similar to those of the NATO Agreement signed in 1949, both providing for mutual defence, collective security and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Venezuela is a member of the Treaty having reactivated its membership in 2019 after a withdrawal in 2012. It may object to Guyana’s application, but we must at least try.

Christopher Ram

A book review by Christopher Ram – May 28, 2024

Introduction

This is the sixth and final part of the review of Moses Nagamootoo’s autobiographical account of his political career starting in 1961 until the fall of the Coalition Government in 2020, of which he was the Prime Minister.

Under the title The New Normal, chapter 23 traces the history of the relationship between Guyanese of African and Indian descent, claiming that there was racial discrimination of both sides of the major ethnic divide which existed long before the 1953 elections. The chapter notes as an incontestable fact, that Indians suffered from racial violence, discrimination and alienation under the PNC rule. It highlights his parents’ choice to marry under Christian rites, then predominantly Afro Guyanese,  even as they continued their Hindu religious practices, and the role and contribution of the Afro village nurse and schoolteachers. Controversially, he sees as a response to the “anti-Indian dilemma,” the formation of the Indian Peoples’ Revolutionary Associates (IPRA) by Moses Bhagwan, described as Jagan’s successor-in-waiting, and the teaming-up of Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye, Doodnauth Singh, Ayube McDoom and Gunraj Kumar to form the Guyana Anti-Discrimination Movement.

Burnham policies and elections

According to Nagamootoo, the import substitution policies of Forbes Burnham, the struggle for trade union recognition by sugar workers, and the closure of the Cuban rice market, formed part of the racially charged backdrop for distrust between the two communities. In this context he also recalls the transfer of a murder charge from the mainly Indo-Guyanese Corentyne to the mainly Afro-Guyanese Georgetown in which Arnold Rampersaud was charged with the murder of an Afro-Guyanese policeman, increasing the odds of a conviction. Nagamootoo gives little or no recognition to the role of the multiracial WPA and Dr. Walter Rodney in helping to secure the acquittal of Rampersaud.

Demonstrating the ethnic cleavage in electoral politics in Guyana, Nagamootoo writes that the PNC received just over 40% of the votes cast in 1992, the same it got in 1964 when transparent elections were last held. Similarly, the support for the PPP was also unchanged, while the WPA, whose activism had resulted in widespread multiracial support in its campaign against the PNC, and for a government of national unity, received little support in those elections.

The chapter closes with comments on the emergence of “resource nationalism” where corrupt management and appropriation of the wealth of countries by foreign companies have led to the intervention of the army. Yet, in the very next chapter, he writes of “misconceptions of and about the process that ended in the 2016 petroleum.”

The hardliners

Even as he looks forward in chapter 24, Nagamootoo reminds readers of the infamous “kith and kin”, and “slo fire, mo fire” comments by Desmond Hoyte, former President as well as Leader of the Opposition, as being both “irresponsible and repugnant”. Interestingly, the name Hoyte does not appear anywhere in the book, nor does Hamilton Greene. On the other hand, he notes that his own publication The Political Situation And The Way Forward In Guyana was consigned to the bonfire by PPP hardliners, and that when he suggested to Janet Jagan the possibility of Cheddi Jagan being buried or his ashes interred in the Botanical Gardens, her response was: “No, no Moses they will dig up his bones and drag them in the streets of Georgetown”.

On the issue of Constitutional Reform, the book notes the work of the Ramkarran Commission (1999) and Nigel Hughes Sub-committee on Constitutional Reform as having started a dynamic process, but which needs political will to achieve the necessary changes, especially for a possible government of national unity, a most unlikely prospect. Yet, he expresses, double-handedly, that President Ali would keep his many promises and beat back “the perception that he is just a figurehead in the leadership troika”, which possibly includes the Prime Minister.

Chapter 25 returns to internal PPP matters under the caption Crooked Selection Process, the purpose of which was to give a full explanation for his walking from the PPP. The chapter features a letter he wrote to the General Secretary of the party in response to an invitation for him to address the Executive Committee of the Party. There were clearly irreconcilable differences.

My take on the book

While truth is indeed of virtue, for those who occupy the political space, it hardly ever wins friends. In the case of Nagamootoo’s Dear Land of Guyana, nothing can be more truthful. Whether he intended it or not, he is particularly harsh on several persons, including those who came lately to the PPP, and those with whom he had differences. These, and others, should find this book of interest, if not comfort. Nagamootoo accuses the PPP of engaging in military training; of rigging internal elections; of destroying the dreams of its founder leader Cheddi Jagan; and has exposed a different side of the late Janet Jagan.

The book is a contribution to the country’s political history by a contemporary writer, in his style and as he sees himself. It is not without its controversies and might therefore have been expected to generate debate and response from the persons named, even if only to defend their reputation. That has not happened. If no one else, President Granger owes it to the nation to confirm or deny the role of the Americans in the conclusion of the 2020 elections debacle.

A book review by Christopher Ram – May 19, 2024

Introduction

Chapter 20 of the book is a celebration of the women in politics particularly beginning in 1961 when Nagamootoo joined the PPP as a youth in pre-independence Guyana. Three years later the PPP lost parliamentary control and executive power in the first proportional representation elections in Guyana, engineered and imposed by the UK government which led to the PNC and the United Force Coalition in 1964. Through a prolonged period of 28 years of PNC rule underpinned by rigged elections and the virtual collapse of the country’s economy, there is no extensive, critical review of that period in the book.

The chapter is titled Saga of Women’s Struggle and highlights the role played by women in the political development of the country, identifying as the first among the pioneers, founder member of the PPP Janet Jagan, the only woman President the country has ever had, Winifred Gaskin, Jane Phillip-Gay, Patricia Benn, Thelma Reece and Philomena Sahoye-Shury whose combative style earned her the soubriquet Fireball. The chapter is built around six distinct themes – the Burnham years; the symbols of struggle; exceptional women; the heroic figures; workers stage; and revolutionary changes – and identifies some of the standout women under each of those themes.

Foot soldiers but not leaders

A number of these women, including Shirley Edwards, Mitra Devi and Pauline Sukhai, had joined the PPP in their youth but are still around and recognisable by contemporary Guyanese. But by far, the two women most admired by Nagamootoo were Indra Chandrapal, who “along with three of her sisters were hauled away in their nightdresses by the police during the repressive 1973 elections”, and Gail Teixeira who has featured in every government since 1992 following her return from Canada where she had been involved in the anti-apartheid movement and had a close connection to the communist party of that country. Interestingly, Ms. Teixeira is the only person, let alone woman, with any leftwing bent to have featured in the top ten in the recent PPP Congress. Nagamootoo also accords recognition to several women of the Working People’s Alliance who were in the forefront of the resistance to the PNC, including Andaiye, Jocelyn Dow, Karen DeSouza, Bonito Harris-Bone and Vanda Radzik.

The chapter was essentially a reproduction of a feature article Nagamootoo wrote in Thunder, the PPP political organ in 2008 when he was still a leading member of that party. There is nothing to suggest that Nagamootoo’s high regard for the women identified is undiminished, or whether the regard and respect remains mutual to this day. For all the multitude of names of women who featured in the struggle, the book does not address the glass ceiling which has ensured that other than Janet Jagan, no woman from either the PPP or the PNC ever became their party’s leader or the country’s president. Women in Guyana politics might be great foot soldiers but unfit for higher leadership.

PPP’s practice of democracy

There is nothing that makes a political narrative more fascinating than the conspiratorial intrigue and conduct of party functionaries vying to outdo each other. Chapter 21 provides more than its fair share, with accusations of race, class, ambition and selfish commitment featuring prominently. Chapter 21 is titled Return of Authoritarians, describing Nagamootoo’s growing disenchantment with what he claims passed as internal democracy in the PPP after the death of its iconic leader Cheddi Jagan. In what might be considered a confusing conflation of key events from the formation of the PPP government in 1992 and the intrigue in the nomination process for the leadership of the party in subsequent elections, the chapter showcases the dominant role of Indian men over Afro Guyanese and women from the top position of presidential candidate, notwithstanding the generous rewards available for Afro Guyanese crossovers or the success of Kwame McKay over a capable Anil Nandlall in party elections. From his vantage point as an insider, Nagamootoo raises serious doubts about the quality of internal democracy, and the style and content of its governance, which characterised the PPP and which were projected onto the national stage.

The flipside of this, of course is the PPP twin, the People’s National Congress, which has never been led by a woman, or by an Indo Guyanese. This is why the almost all-powerful Dr. Roger Luncheon was considered ideologically suitable as the presidential candidate of the PPP but was disqualified on the grounds of his race (red but black); and why the outstanding Winston Murray could not win a leadership election in the PNC. While race and gender played a role in the PPP, a more compelling disqualification was any tendency to challenge “traditional mechanisms” and the party line. Nagamootoo complains that while he received the second highest number of votes at the party’s Congress in 1998 (behind Janet Jagan), he was “not given” enough votes to get on to the Executive Committee (Exco). That pattern continued in 2008 when popular youth leader Frank Anthony and he, who came in third and fifth respectively in the elections at Congress, could not find place in the smaller but more powerful Exco.

Jagdeo’s elevation and candidacy featured in the chapter with Nagamootoo describing him, with more than a little prescience, as “parroting the neoliberal language and the new capitalist doctrine.” Jagdeo, of course, was elected president in 1999 but suffered a decline in popularity following the reign of violence and terror in Guyana. Nagamootoo cites a poll by Dr. Vishnu Bisram which showed that 54% of PPP supporters preferred him as president compared to 31% for jagdeo and 20% for Ramkarran. a preference supported in an article by Freddie Kissoon in 2004. The chapter concludes by touching on the events leading up to the selection of the presidential candidate for 2011 but skipped critical details, such as the pre-determination of the results of internal voting or the non-accountability of the leadership for the financial operations of the party.

Dirty war

Chapter 22 is titled Racism and Revenge Politics and recounts the attacks Nagamootoo claims he suffered as the target of “a dirty war that had no imagination” waged by the PPP, with the most painful cut that he was a traitor and a neemackram, a Hindi word meaning ungrateful. Moreover, he was accused of improperly removing volumes of the Mirror newspapers to which he had contributed for decades. The chapter highlights his account of his achievements as Minister of Information in the PPP government, including the promotion of an independent media and seeking to introduce better governance, accountability and access to the State-owned media and easier access by Guyanese. The chapter closes with Nagamootoo’s failed efforts to have both presidents Granger and Ali clarify his entitlement to other benefits.

The sixth and final part will appear next week.

A book review by Christopher Ram – May 12, 2024

Introduction

Chapter 17 is titled Campaign and Elections and reports on the immediate action required to hold the elections following the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice that the no confidence motion (NCM) in December 2018 was properly passed, the Government had fallen, and elections had to be held. The book does not detail the delay tactics by the APNU + AFC Government to stay in office in a clear violation of the constitutional requirement for elections within 90 days of the NCM, or the validity of legislation purportedly passed by the Government thereafter, matters which as a lawyer could not be alien to Mr. Nagamootoo. Yet, he writes about the triumph of Parliamentary democracy.

The tone of the chapter suggests that things were not too right for him. From his own accounting, while he was sidelined, other Ministers became emboldened following the vote. He tells the story that while acting as president, he was summoned to a meeting in the office of Cathy Hughes Vice Chair of the AFC where the Jamaican advisor and architect of the Cummingsburg Accord – with whom he never seemed to have had a cordial relationship – that the Coalition needed “a brand-new slate”.

Popularity and betrayal

Unabashedly, Nagamootoo writes that given his popularity both on the coast and in the hinterland communities, going into the elections without him as the symbolic head of the AFC was a “huge mistake.” He lamented that except for a 20-minute speech at Anna Regina, he was assigned no role in the elections campaign or manifesto preparation, and criticises the Coalition for its failure to reach out sufficiently to Indo-Guyanese communities and for being carried away by a “misplaced display of overconfidence and triumphalism”.

Writing about the betrayal by an AFC MP that led to the fall of the Coalition Government, Nagamootoo expresses surprise at the lack of outrage at the betrayal by an AFC member of Parliament that caused the collapse of the government, even as he claims that he instructed Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, the AFC leader and Minister of Public Security to put arrangements in place for the security of Persaud as he (Persaud) was leaving the country. Nagamootoo writes in praise of the absence of violence following the confidence vote, drawing a parallel with the violence that erupted following the “installation” of Janet Jagan after the 1997 elections.

He writes of his confidence of a Coalition victory against the PPP which was going into the elections with its presidential candidate Irfaan Ali  who was facing several allegations of sleaze  while he held office as a minister and claims about the genuineness of his academic qualifications. According to Nagamootoo, Ali had barely survived a bruising internal party campaign against his popular contenders, among whom were Dr. Frank Anthony, Anil Nandlall and Dr. Vindya Persaud. The book notes however, the emphasis of the PPP/C on the number 50,000 – in new jobs, new house lots, new homes, new scholarships, stipend for trainee teachers, and for cash grants for every school child.

Foreign interference and the order to vacate office

He writes too that expert foreign hands experts were directing the PPP campaign – naming Mercury and Cambridge Analytica – and engaging in PR stunts like the preparation of props and footage for propaganda spins. He accused the PPP/C, with more than a hint of irony , or prescience, of spreading the news that the Coalition would rig the elections.

About the elections themselves, he writes about the rigging to facilitate the PPP‘s return to office as being well planned and executed. He mentions specifically the “interference by Mercury, and by high-ranking US officials,” the bloated electors list, and the nasty threats of sanctions from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – a “fatal form of American bullying and interference.” He does, however, acknowledge that while it was a Guyana tragedy for democracy, part of the blame for failure had to be placed at the feet of the Coalition, including some levels of distrust among key partners.

That theme continues in chapter 18 with Nagamootoo claiming that Pompeo “ordered us to vacate office, and threatened consequences”. That is the clearest account yet of the purpose of Pompeo’s role and visit to Guyana around the 2020 elections. The book suggests that Pompeo totally ignored the Recount processes and legal challenges before the courts.

Continuing, Nagamootoo writes that the process was railroaded and that it did not take long for the carpetbaggers to cash in on their promissory notes, including the AFC defector Charrandass Persaud being rewarded with a diplomatic posting and his “godfather” Peter Ramsaroop being named Director of Go-Invest. The chapter also addresses a bombshell announcement the Taiwan had opened a trade office in Guyana “a pre-planned move” that was applauded by U.S. ambassador Sarah Ann Lynch. The decision was reversed following a call by President Xi of China to the Guyana President and a statement that the announcement was a “result of a miscommunication of the agreement signed,” and that the agreement had since been terminated.

Back to the beginning

Chapter 19 is titled Back to the Beginning, in which Moses writes about drawing inspiration from Christian idealism of serving the poor and joining the PPP and its youth movement in October 1964. He reports that he became a voracious reader of Marxist texts and anti-communist literature from Christian movements and engaged in endless discussion on ideology. He writes of a love-hate relationship with Janet Jagan, a founder member of the PPP and the editor of the Mirror newspaper, accusing her of the “hidden hand that manipulated [his] life” and using one of her “hatchet-men” Clement Rohee, against him.

As he claims, on two occasions, Cheddi Jagan tried to dissuade him from pursuing further studies, succeeding on the first occasion (UG) but not the second (Law School). Referring to some of the rightwing/ left wing contradictions within the PPP, he recalls Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye as consoling the right wing Balramsingh Rai by observing that “the party works in devious ways, comrade.”

Writing about the 1998 Party elections in which he came second to Janet Jagan, he describes how ballots were managed and how his request to observe the count was quickly rejected. His narration of his experiences in the post-1964 PPP – including medical examinations at a Black Sea sanitorium in the USSR – makes fascinating reading, 

To be continued

A book review by Christopher Ram – May 5, 2024

Introduction

This third part of Dear Land of Guyana, anautobiographical account by Moses V. Nagamootoo,  Prime Minister of Guyana from 2015-2020, covers chapters 7 to 16. Chapter 7 begins with the tabling of a motion of a no confidence motion against the minority PPP government, moved by the AFC which had seven seats in the National Assembly. Nagamootoo does not claim a joint action, but only that the AFC counted on the support of the APNU’s 26 seats. According to him, the action was taken when corruption became pervasive in Guyana. Instead of facing the charges in the National Assembly, President Ramotar’s response was the prorogation of parliament, after his approach to opposition leader David Granger to back off from the no confidence motion was rebuffed.

Chapter 8 relates the country’s history of searching for a Pro-democracy Alliance beginning in the mid-1970s and developing steam when the opposition parties came together in the preparation for the 1992 elections. The writer also gives a background to engagements between the PPP and the WPA which had earlier entered the anti-dictatorship struggle. According to the book, a sticking point in that effort was the WPA’s refusal to back an Indian candidate, especially Cheddi Jagan. The search for a consensus candidate continued with other names like Dr. Roger Luncheon, Ashton Chase and Bishop Randolph George.

The Cummingsburg Accord

An account is given of the events leading up to the PPP adding a civic component to its name, even while private talks with the PNC continued. The author claims that even after the assassination of WPA leader Walter Rodney in 1980, he favored continuing those talks while Dr. Jagan was opposed. The rest of the chapter addresses the debates and discussions within the AFC on an alliance with the APNU and overcoming the fears that such an alliance would render the AFC “dead meat.”  Nagamootoo placed himself among the AFC fighters countering the PPP’s “propaganda” that any pro-democratic alliance would be bad for Guyana. After protracted inter-party talks not only on a national programme, but mundane matters like which party would secure the position of presidential candidate, and equal sharing of cabinet positions, the AFC and the APNU on a4 February 2015 signed the Cummingsburg Accord, an exercise spearheaded by a Jamaican consultant.

The broad plans for the Coalition included constitutional reforms that could accommodate the broadest possible unity of competing and otherwise antagonistic political entities, zero tolerance for corruption, transparency, accountability, and probity at all levels. The response by the PPP/C was “nasty and brutal” propaganda: the AFC was selling out to the Africans; finding derogatory names for perceived sympathisers like Yesu Persaud, Robert Badal, Anand Goolsarran and Christopher Ram.

Nagamootoo himself does not hesitate to trade his own barbs, identifying Peter Ramsaroop, Kit Nascimento (former UF propaganda czar), Mansoor Nadir, Nanda Gopaul (Jagan’s effigy burner) and Dr. Leslie Ramsammy who had vowed to run “the communist Jagan” out. Also mentioned for their association with the PPP/C in quite unflattering terms were Khemraj Lall, Sonny Ramdeo, Fip Motilall and specialty hospital promoter Surendra.

Instant sell

Chapter 10 describes the reception leading up to the elections on 11 May 2015, the instant sell of the Granger/Nagamootoo combination and his first meeting with Granger when they were both in short pants. Describing Granger’s Speech at the launching of the Alliance as “nothing short of visionary,” Nagamootoo wrote that the reception at the Launch convinced him that the Coalition’s victory on May 11th “was assured”. In what was seen as an alignment of the stars, Dr. Joey Jagan and Ms. Ulele Burnham also appeared on the Coalition platform. The chapter also reproduced a letter from Joey Jagan on the day before the elections setting out his reasons for supporting the Coalition. The book also talks about incidents like the killing of Courtney Crum-Ewing and another Fazal Azeez, both in a narrative that suggested political involvement.

Three days after the vote on 11 May 2015, the Alliance was declared the winners with 50.30% of the votes and gaining a one seat majority while the PPP/C obtained thirty-two seats and challenged the results.

Chapter 12 recounted the events from the swearing in on 16 May 2015, for the first time at the Parliament Buildings. The Government was made up of sixteen Cabinet ministers and nine junior ministers, huge for a country with a population of less than three-quarter million. Those numbers of course were partly driven by the Cumminsburg Accord. Signaling his first discomfort with Granger, Nagamootoo described an early speech by Granger in which he referred to the murders in the sixties. According to him, Granger’s better self was telling him to let go, but “he didn’t, he couldn’t.” The writer also uses the chapter to explain the delegation to him of the chairmanship of Cabinet’s Business Session, the powerful Cabinet Business Sub-committee and of the Parliamentary Agenda Sub-committee.

Chapters 13 and 14 begin with the statement that the Coalition served a full five years in government during 2015 to 2020. That was only because of a spurious protracted challenge to the No Confidence Motion brought by the PPP/C and supported by an AFC MP. Nagamootoo deals with the huge increase which Cabinet voted itself on the one hand and the achievements it made on the other. They also described the activities and challenges of Government confronted by an opposition whose leader when in Government had raised concerns in a statement that “his regime was prepared inexplicably to cede a channel for Venezuela’s access to the Atlantic, and through the pathway of our enormous oil deposits.”

The book narrates the challenges of power supply and the crisis in the sugar industry, described at some length in chapter 15. The Government’s response was the closure of several sugar estates with the intention of privatising parts of the industry. This was hugely controversial, especially with sugar unions. Over 5,000 sugar workers were laid off without timely severance payments. The handling of the sugar industry matter probably accounted for the Coalition’s loss of power in less than a full term. This was a gift to the PPP/C, which had run the industry like an extension of the Party, but which gained immensely from the botched manner in which the Coalition tried to fix the problem.

In Chapter 16, Nagamootoo recounts the fall on the Coalition, which he saw as a “tit for tat response to his no confidence motion in 2015 and a bitter vendetta for his resignation from the PPP”. Readers will also recall that in Part 1 of this review, I had referred to a conspiracy theory that the plan may have been connected with a meeting in India!

In closing chapter 16, Nagamootoo states that despite mistakes on all sides, disagreements and quarrels, the Coalition made credible achievements that could ensure their return to the office for a second term. However, new factors contributed to their defeat and ouster at the elections, including campaign failures, which he claims were self-inflicted, and foreign intervention which was by invitation.