Dear Editor,
It was a very emotional experience on Monday, October 5, to share the 58th Anniversary of the founding of People National Congress at Sophia. It included a flag raising and a stirring address by our Leader, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Recall the time when we passed through a period of our earlier leaders ‒ Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham, JP Lachmansingh, Sydney King, Ashton Chase, Jainarine Singh and many young Turks like myself ‒ who had seen the 1953 elections. This was the first time that universal adult suffrage became a reality. This allowed every citizen to vote putting aside the qualification of a high salary or property. In other words, there were no pre-qualifications such as ownership of property, or the amount of money earned determining the right to vote. Unhappily, there was the split in the PPP leadership after the British suspended our constitution. The British set up an interim government. Then came the 1957 elections held on the 12th August. Two PPPs contested the elections, one led by Cheddi Jagan, the other led by Forbes Burnham. It is interesting to note that those who made it to the Legislative Assembly, were Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, Cheddi Jagan, W O Rudy Kendall, Ajodha Singh, S M Saffee, Etwaroo Beharry, Balram Singh Rai, Andrew L Jackson, Jainarine Singh, Fred Bowman, Ramkarran, Brindley H Benn, Janet Jagan, Stephen Campbell.
After the elections, it was generally understood that to continue with two PPPs – one ‘Jaganite,’ one ‘Burnhamite,’ made no sense, and so after much deliberation, we came up with the name People’s National Congress with the flag of red, green and black design, the white circle in the middle carrying the palm tree.
We look forward to the party with its coalition partners fulfilling the dreams of those fourteen elected to the National Assembly in 1957, and that APNU+AFC will forge a strong united country where human dignity is maintained.
The next day at the Investiture Ceremony held at the National Cultural Centre, we saw evidence that our dignity and pride as a people are being restored under the astute leadership of David Arthur Granger.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
