Guyana became Independent under a state of emergency with the British Army still deployed on operations to quell the People’s Progressive Party’s campaign of terrorism. Independence was inevitable and should not have required the presence of foreign troops except for the fact that Guyana’s struggle was not against foreign imperialism or invasion but against local terrorism that forced our people to traverse a rough road to achieve Independence.
Former President David Granger, speaking on the programme – The Public Interest – recalled that constitutional advances towards Independence had progressed – in 1957, 1960, 1962, 1963 – until 1964 when public order was restored. The British government then agreed that British Guiana would become Independent on 26 May 1966.
Mr. Granger explained that election results were always obstacles to achieving Independence earlier. The unbalanced ‘First-Past-the-Post’ electoral system however, bred discontent because it generated disproportionate majorities in the Legislative Council from electoral minorities. The PPP, for example, won only 47.6 per cent of the votes in the elections in 1957 but gained 65 per cent of Legislative seats. The PPP, similarly, won only 42.6 per cent of the votes in the elections in 1961 but gained 57 per cent of the seats.
The more equitable Proportional Representation system was introduced in 1964 by which the PPP with 45.8 per cent of the votes gained 24 seats while the PNC and UF combined vote of 53 per cent won 29 seats. This allowed those two parties to form a majority coalition.
Granger pointed out that, although it was widely known that Independence would follow the elections in 1964, the PPP deliberately launched a cruel campaign of terrorism – known as the Hurricane of Protest– aimed at making the colony ungovernable. The PPP’s objective was to prevent the British Government from conducting elections under the ‘PR’ system in December 1964, to remain in office up to 1965 and to obtain Independence without new elections.
The Disturbances started after the pro-PPP Guiana Agricultural Workers’ Union mobilised sugar cane workers to strike, ostensibly for recognition by the British Guiana Sugar Producers’ Association in the sugar industry. GAWU’s agents attacked workers who supported the Man Power Citizens Association − the union recognised by the BGSPA. Violence lasted from February to December during which scores of innocent, mostly poor working people and villagers were murdered.
The PPP’s campaign of terror was propelled by the deployment of a regiment of terrorists who had been armed, trained and financed by communist states. The terrorists introduced violence into communities which previously coexisted amicably. PPP’s terrorist tactics showed that – from 1954 to 1964 – its strategic objective always was the total control of the colony, even at the expense of human safety and public security.
The former president pointed out that the Hurricane of protest, launched in January, was quelled by December 1964 when general elections were held and the PPP was removed from office. Independence came peacefully in May 1966. The PPP, however, did its utmost to obstruct the aspirations of the majority of people on the road to Independence.