A salute to the leadership for keeping the legacy of the PPP alive and relevant

Dear Editor,

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) observed its 70th anniversary on January 1, 2020. This is indeed a significant milestone. The PPP was formed on January 1, 1950, under the leadership of the charismatic Dr. Cheddi Jagan, and went on to win a massive victory in the 1953 elections, the first to be held under universal adult suffrage. The party continued to win successive elections until it was engineered out of power in 1964 by western vested interests in collaboration by local reactionary parties and groups.

All of that is now water under the bridge. Suffice it to say that the emergence of the PPP in 1950 introduced a new dimension in the politics of the country. For the first time, the status quo of the then colony was challenged in a radical and fundamental way. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to state that the PPP has been at the centre of every major political and constitutional development in the country. It was instrumental in the fight for universal adult suffrage; it played a leading role in the struggle for national independence and for a democratic Guyana.

I have always held the view that the electoral and popular success of the PPP transcended the narrow appeal of race and ethnicity as is being suggested in some quarters. Instead, it is the universalistic appeal of the PPP from its very inception as a party of the working class that is a major factor in its capacity to do so well electorally over the decades.

The PPP remains until today the largest multi-ethnic political party in Guyana. It has within its ranks people from all across the ethnic and cultural divide. Even though it has a predominant Indo-Guyanese support base, its political and ideological underpinnings are intended to create a socially-just society that transcends the narrow confines of race and politics.

As the country prepares for general and regional elections, the PPP is poised to once again be at the helm of the development processes of this country.
I salute the membership and leadership of the PPP, both present and past, for keeping the legacy of the PPP alive and relevant.

Hydar Ally