Tag Archives: PPP

By Dr Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus, American University A free press is one of the main foundations of a democratic society. Those who don’t have it, long for it. Many have died for it. Yet, some who make a living through the institution of press freedom here in Guyana, have chosen to abuse it with a vengeance. The abuse in ...

By GHK Lall I keep it simple in this chat about democracy versus autocracy in Guyana. I agree and disagree with the erudite Dr. Bertrand Ramcharran. I mostly disagree with those who disagree with him. First, some poor man’s definitions would help. Democracy is government by those with the greater numbers, a system where high ideals once resonated. Autocracy is ...

by GHK Lall I keep learning new things about this country. The new is how devoted it is to what is nasty, ugly, surly, and now stands as the only accepted way for Guyanese to interact with one another. I think it is the Ali-Jagdeo school of communication standard that has taken hold and will not let go. This is ...

By Dr. Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus, American University, Washington DC. “Anne Applebaum is an acerbic right-wing journalist…” (Susan Watkins, New Left Review, 126, Nov./Dec. 2020). Good writers always state their central arguments as directly as possible, and with the greatest clarity. The more you get away from clarity, the more you force the reader to ask questions about intentions, motive, ...

By Dr. Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus The WPA has been around since the 1970s. In the early days it played a useful role in helping the PPP remove the authoritarian People’s National Congress. One of the WPA stalwarts, Dr. Walter Rodney, was assassinated by the state in June 1980. The COI into Rodney’s death directly pointed fingers at the then ...

By Dr. Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus There have been recent calls for a consensus-based national development plan. In my view, two versions of consensus warrant attention in the current conjuncture. The first, which I shall call constructive consensus, is based on exchange of substantive ideas that yield positive and measurable outcomes. This form of consensus involves balanced contributions from all ...

By Dr. Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus For the past several months, columnist GHK Lall has been trying to make a case against the PPP on economic grounds. He tried everything in his repertoire but came up empty-handed. The truth is the Guyanese economy is roaring both at the level of macro-economic fundamentals, and also at the level of individuals and ...

By Dr. Randy Persaud, Professor Emeritus “…[T]here were, in fact, shockingly brazen attempts…to derail and corrupt the statutorily prescribed procedure for the counting, ascertaining and tabulation of votes of the March 2nd election…” (COI Report on the 2020 Guyana Elections). “[W]e must ask – on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Elections Officer determine ...

By Retired Rear Admiral Dr Gary Best  Apart from the glimmer, glamour, and dancing imitations, not to mention the short skit showing disdain for the nation teachers’ struggle for better salaries and benefits, the PPP’s exceptionally long-overdue congress brought nothing new. Certainly, no real changes. What the PPP said were ‘changes’ is a camouflage for it remaining the same. In ...

By GHK Lall Former government Minister, Mr. Nigel Dharamlall has become the hottest hot potato for the PPP. With some accuracy, it could be said that he is the source of more tension than the Venezuelan military buildup in the Ankoko area. What to do with the man, a loyal soldier for the party, probably a man who walks around ...