Gov’t says October 5, 1992, elections were ‘historic’

Thursday, October 5, marked the anniversary of the historical elections held in 1992, which have been identified as the first free and fair elections in post-independent Guyana.

On that day, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) ended the 28-year-long hold of the People’s National Congress (PNC), winning 28 of the 53 seats in the National Assembly and 53.5% of the votes cast, and providing the platform for them to win five successive governments.

In the subsequent years, under the PPP stewardship, Guyana moved from a low-income country drowning in debt to a country on the rise, with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world.

Speaking on a recent panel discussion in commemoration of the October 5, 1992, general elections, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, and Commissioner of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) Clement Rohee recounted the state of Guyana’s socioeconomic sphere before and after the milestone elections that marked a return to democracy for Guyana.

AG Nandlall noted that the PNC has a legacy of discrimination, violation of the constitution and the rule of law, and rigged elections, that has had to be corrected by consecutive PPP/C governments.

“With the absence of democracy, and the absence of freedom, and the imposition of authoritarianism force oppression, comes social degradation, economic stagnation, and bankruptcy, and we travelled that road. So, by 1992, we were completely bankrupt. Guyana, by that time, had become a basket case. We were the second poorest country in this hemisphere, the medical system had collapsed, the infrastructural and educational system had collapsed,” he said.

He made mention of a report commissioned in 1990 by the Caribbean Council of Churches, which lamented the state of despair and hopelessness prominent among the populace at that time.

Describing the era as one of ‘darkness’ Minister Teixeira also drew the contrast between the time before and after the 1992 elections. She pointed out that under the rule of the PNC, Guyana was a pariah state, with its citizens grappling with the effects of a plunging economy.

She said the PPP/C has created and developed a sustainable prosperity agenda, that is people-oriented and aimed at ensuring that access to opportunities for development is enjoyed by all Guyanese. Today, these principles guide the mega-projects and benevolent initiatives piloted by the PPP/C government, as the methodology warps to adjust to a modern society.

Today, Guyana boasts a superb status as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, gaining international recognition for the massive strides being made in every sector.

Guyana is now seen as a leader on a regional and international level in a number of areas, including food security and environmental sustainability.

“Our pride as a people has been restored by this preservation and protection of democracy,” the parliamentary affairs minister declared.

She said that it is important to view October 5, 1992, as not simply a historical event, but a continuum that has allowed to country to persevere.

According to the minister, since the establishment of the People’s Progressive Party in 1950, the party has heralded the call for constitutional reform, autonomy, universal adult suffrage, and the prevalence of democracy. 

“Philosophically, we have not changed. We have been loyal to the views of democracy, of equality, of justice, and of reducing poverty, and we have seen this come through the years, with many difficulties,” Minister Teixeira contended.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) Clement Rohee pointed to the most recent case of election rigging by the PNC-led APNU+AFC, during the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the global economy, he described it as a traumatic and agonising period that has seen democracy prevail.