Dear Editor,
This month marks the 64th year of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), the first as well as the largest multi-racial and progressive mass movement that awakened the political consciousness of Guyanese in particular and Caribbean nationals in general.
To this day, the PPP still remains the oldest, best-loved, and most cohesive political party in this country. Demonstrating effective leadership ever since it was founded in January 1950, it has the distinction of winning every free and fair election held since 1953 under both electoral systems – first-past-the-post (1953-1961) and proportional representation (1992-2011). The party’s 1953 main aim was a commitment to a redistributive economic programme intended to reduce poverty – which has remained a key pillar ever since.
The PPP won three consecutive general elections under the first-past-the-post electoral system in 1953, 1957, and 1961 and won the majority of votes at the 1964 general election under the newly-introduced proportional representation system, but this constitutional coup prevented it from forming the government.
When the party was removed from office, its 1957-1964 programme brought the country to the second wealthiest in the English-speaking Caribbean after Trinidad and Tobago, with its own university, good healthcare and education system, and sound industrial and agricultural programme. It was categorised with the more developed countries (MDCs) in the Caribbean with Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad.
Since then and after almost 30 years since 1964, the party triumphed (with the help of a “Civic” component, hence PPP/C) at winning an outright majority at the first ever free and fair elections held in 1992.
At the time of the 1992 change, Guyana’s per capita income at US$410 was the lowest in the 13 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states and the country ranked as one of the three poorest nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, the others being Bolivia and Haiti.
However, the PPP/C government slowly brought the country back and has won every general election since. Today, with the per capita at well over US$8000 and with eight consecutive years of positive economic growth at over five percent annually, Guyana is indeed the envy of the other CARICOM states, despite political setbacks.
How did this happen? In a word – leadership. An anatomy of the party’s philosophy, programme, and history shows that one key reason for such ongoing success essentially lies with its leadership principle.
True leaders are those who, through their deeds, lead by serving others. They must walk the talk. Party leaders have demonstrated true leadership over the years through influencing and followership.
Dr Laurence J Peter, developer of the ‘Peter Principle’, maintains that: “Many are called leaders by virtue of their being ahead of the pack or at the top of the pyramid, and that is one definition of the word leader. But being out front or on top denotes only position and not the qualities of leadership. There is a significant difference between being in charge and being a leader.”
Eschewing violence and firmly believing in democratic principles, the PPP/C has an ultimate purpose of seeing all Guyanese prosper, progress, and live in peace and harmony. The creation and embodiment of this effective purpose has differentiated the party from all others. Against this backdrop, the party’s earlier slogans of “Peace, Progress and Prosperity” and “For Honest and Progressive Government” hold true to this day.
The late great PPP/C founder-leader Dr Cheddi Jagan was one political leader whose life story – up from modest beginnings to holding the highest office in Guyana through honest means – provided an effective backdrop for admiration and the sound economic, social, and governmental changes he advocated and implemented during his tenure in the short-lived 1953 government and the 1957-64 and 1992-97 years.
Even the British and Americans acknowledged at the height of the 1962-64 turmoil that he was the ablest leader in Guyana.
As noted earlier, the PPP/C won every election since Dr Jagan’s death in March 1997 without him at the helm for the first time since the 1953 general election. Such performance represents superior leadership qualities and is aptly described by Walter Lippman (1889-1974), a U.S. liberal political commentator, when he said: The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
Sincerely,
Lal Balkaran, MBA, FCMA, FCGA, CGMA
Internal Audit, Risk and Corporate Governance Consultant