October 5 will mark the 29th anniversary of the return of free and fair elections to Guyana in 1992, and the first attempt since then to restore the dark days of election rigging. The latter event has underlined the importance of the former, and the need to write about it. The argument of equivalence, which is hostile to the realities, should not deter us.
The result of the 1992 elections was uncertain. The PNC’s policies had ravaged the economy, destroyed democracy and elevated assassination to State policy. The PPP had been excluded from the political process for 24 years and was contesting in alliance with a civic component, rather than jointly with the WPA, DLM and other allies in the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy.
