TURMOIL IN SOPHIA – JOE HARMON TRIUMPHS

Like everything else, political parties undergo change and renewal. The reasons, circumstances and methods of change are of infinite range. In Guyana, change has not escaped the PPP in its long history. More recently, current changes began with the passing of Cheddi Jagan in 1997. While there have been dramatic moments, the changes were largely […]

HAD RODNEY LIVED, GUYANA WOULD NOT HAVE FACED THE CURRENT DILEMMA

Guyana, and indeed the world, has moved on in significant ways since June 13, 1980, when Walter Rodney was assassinated. From an authoritarian dystopia, where opposition political activists, particularly of the WPA, were invited to make their wills, where political activists were imprisoned, harassed or killed, where the economy was bankrupt, where the press was […]

ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASINATION OF WALTER RODNEY, A POLITICAL SOLUTION AND FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS STILL ELUDE US

The recount winds down amidst the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of Walter Rodney, one of Guyana’s most prominent and courageous fighters for democracy and free and fair elections. The party, of which he was a leader, the WPA, now in alliance with APNU, together with the PPP, proposed separate policies in the late 1970s […]

PHANTOM VOTES

Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act is quite clear. It requires the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, in the presence of persons entitled to be present, to “ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each list in the district by adding up the votes recorded in favour of the list in accordance […]

A POST-RACIAL FUTURE FOR GUYANA IS WITHIN GRASP

During last week, the Stabroek News published an article (Akola Thompson “Towards a post-racial future” and a letter (Ryhaan Shaw “Little hope of a post-racial future for Guyana any time soon”) on the future of race in Guyana. Race is a difficult issue to discuss because of its complexity and intractability. But a peaceful and […]