The Constitution of the PPP was adopted in 1977. It was designed to entrench the ideology of Marxism-Leninism and assist in the transformation of the party to a Leninist party of the new type. The objectives were to officially adopt and promote Marxist-Leninist ideology and organizational methods. The need to create a more disciplined movement was also dictated by the increasingly authoritarian conditions under which the party was operating. We believed that in the conditions we were then facing where open, democratic, activity was becoming difficult and we might have to function in conditions of illegality, the constitution had to be adapted to enable us to survive with a structure. It was our belief at the time that the party of the new type was ideally suited for these conditions.
Whatever may be said about the constitution which was adopted, the PPP remained intact and largely united in the difficult years. It built the best organized political movement in Guyana, won over Amerindian support after decades of painstaking work, resumed political work in Linden in difficult conditions after the 1960s, made alliances or collaborated with other groups throughout the 1970s and 1980s, maintained dialogue with the trade union movement and civil society and played a major role in sustaining opposition
