PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo today expressed condolences on behalf of himself and the party, to the family and friends of Ashton Chase SC, the last of the party’s founder members, who passed away today. He was 96.
“Our country owes an eternal debt of gratitude to this outstanding son of the soil. Guyana has lost an amazing human being”, he said in a post on his Facebook page.
Chase, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan and Jocelyn Hubbard formed the Political Affairs Committee which was the precursor of the formation of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in 1950.
Chase would later move away from the PPP and became heavily involved in labour and his legal practice. He had a long association with the union, NAACIE.
On his Facebook page President Irfaan Ali said “I have learned with great sadness of the passing of Mr. Ashton Chase SC.
His death represents an incalculable loss to our nation. His name and contributions will forever be etched in our country’s political, labour and legal history. He made an exceptional contribution to Guyana’s nationalist struggle and political history and was the last surviving member of the Political Affairs Committee established in 1946. He was among our finest legal minds and was a pillar of our country’s early trade union activism, authoring the most authoritative work on our trade union history.
I extend my deepest condolences to his bereaved family”.
Finance Minister Ashni Singh posted a photo on his ministry’s page and the following statement: “Deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Ashton Chase OE SC, a truly gigantic figure in Guyana’s history.
“He was the founding Member of the Political Affairs Committee, precursor to the People’s Progressive Party, celebrated authority on industrial relations and the law, champion of the working people, and the epitome of humility and civility.
“Ashton’s masterful knowledge of labour and litigation, as well as his sterling contribution to politics and the work of the party, have served Guyana exceptionally well. I extend heartfelt condolences to his family and relatives. His legacy of long and distinguished service to Guyana will never be forgotten”.
Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran today issued the following tribute:
It is with deep sorrow that I have learnt of the passing of Ashton Chase. He was a friend, mentor and colleague against whom I appeared in many court cases and with whom I served in many bodies, the main one being the Guyana Bar Association as Assistant Secretary and Secretary on the several occasions that he was president in the turbulent times of the bar association’s fight for free and fair elections, democracy and the rule of law. He was a leading figure in the struggle for democracy in Guyana from 1946 to 1992
Ashton Chase first emerged as Secretary of the British Guiana Labour Union under Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, the father of trade unionism in Guyana, and it was in this role that he joined Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan and Jocelyn Hubbard to form the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in 1946, which my father joined later that year and served as chairman of the Kitty branch. When it was decided by the PAC in 1949 to establish the PPP, Ashton was designated as the first chair. however, on the recommendation of the Jamaican-British activist, Billy Strachan, Ashton willingly stood down in favour of Forbes Burnham, a newly qualified lawyer and Guyana Scholar who was just about to return to Guyana from London. After the PPP’s victory at the 1953 elections Ashton was named Minister of Labour. upon the suspension of the constitution in 1953, Ashton left for England where he pursued studies in law.
Upon his return from England he began to build a law practice, specialising in labour law. In 1961 he was appointed President of the senate by the PPP government and later served as a PPP member of parliament. He was, for many years the president of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) which itself played an important role in the struggle for trade union and electoral democracy. He was a leading member of the GUARD (Guyanese Action for Reform and Democracy) movement which had emerged in the later 1980s to join the fight for free and fair elections. He served in many bodies, including as Chair of Guyana Legal Aid.
Ashton Chase has made a major contribution to legal learning by a number of cases he fought in Guyana’s Court of Appeal including the Teemal and Mohamed Ali cases, forcing the Court of Appeal to take a side against the government in its acts of discrimination and violations of the constitution. These cases have made legal and constitutional history. He was the author of several texts on labour law.
Ashton Chase was a senior counsel, a distinction that he and others were denied for many years by the Burnham administration as acts of political discrimination. He was the holder of the Order of Excellence.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC made the following post:
It is with insurmountable sadness that I learnt of the passing of a pillar of the Guyanese society, Senior Counsel and of the Order of Excellence, Mr. Ashton Alton Chase.
It is a virtual impossibility to encapsulate the life and multidimensional contribution of Mr. Chase to Guyana, the Caribbean and even further afield, in a singular Facebook post. Suffice it to say that he has rendered remarkable contributions in the area of trade unionism, politics, the legal profession and legal education in the West Indies.
Through this medium, it is extraordinarily difficult to assess in which of those areas of national life his accomplishments have been the most profound. For he has made a lasting impact of almost equal magnitude in each.
He was Guyana’s first Minister of labor in the 1953 Government. In his life as a trade unionist, quite apart from his activism, he wrote profusely on the historical evolution and importance of trade unionism in Guyana. Further,he advanced the cause of trade unionism by utilizing his legal prowess in taking numerous trade union struggles into the halls of Justice, winning major victories for labor and the labor movement. In this context one cannot omit to mention his thesis and litigious exploits in the crucial area of workmen compensation.
As a founding member of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), and its sequel the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Chase has etched his name permanently in the political foundation of both pre and post independent Guyana. The party which he founded is still in Government and remains the largest and most multi-ethnic entity in the political landscape of this country.
Mr. Chase served with distinction as Chairman of the Council of Legal Education of the West Indies for many years and played an instrumental role in the automatic entry of the Bachelor of Laws graduates from the University of Guyana into the Hugh Wooding Law School of Trinidad and Tobago, a very controversial issue for many years.
Mr. Chase led the Guyana Bar Association as its President during the tumultuous years of political dictatorship in Guyana, opposing the Government of the day at a time when it was personally hazardous to do so.
On South Road, Lacytown, Georgetown, from where he operated his law Chambers “Alton Covey”, I was fortunate to be his next-door neighbor for many years where my private law office is situated. I received his wise counsel on a regular basis on many intricate issues of law – engagements from which I benefitted incalculably. Many a times I marvelled at his ability to arrive at his office in the mornings long before me while he was in his late eighties and early nineties.
Much more will be said in the coming days of and about Mr. Ashton Alton Chase, S.C., O.E. But for now, no doubt Guyana has lost a legend. His passing has brought an important historical epoch to an end.
On behalf of the Attorney General Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs, the legal profession and of course personally, I salute a fallen comrade and take this opportunity to offer to my colleague, Pauline Chase, Mrs. Chase, his other children and relatives, our sincere condolences in this time of great loss.
May his Soul enjoy eternal and deserving rest.
