On The Need to Develop a New Politics in Guyana
The Barbadian author George Lamming once commented that in any given Caribbean societies, the two dominant political parties differ very little on questions of ideology. He noted that whereas in the politics of the United Kingdom, the Labour and Conservative parties have real ideological differences in terms of the type of societies they seek to create, in the Caribbean parties typically do not differ much ideologically.
What happens in many Caribbean societies is that governments change, but the conditions of the masses rarely do because politics is often reduced to cycling between the same two political parties. The problems associated with dupolies are not unique to Caribbean nations alone, but in Caribbean societies the culture of political dupolies has become so entrenched that few truly question the point which Lamming raised about the fact that political parties in the Caribbean often do not differ much ideologically.
This point is especially important considering Guyana’s upcoming election. Guyana’s politics since independence has largely been dominated by the rivalry between the PPP and the PNC, although since that time a number of other parties have emerged which have also influenced the political landscape as well. Parties such as the WPA and AFC emerged as parties which sought to provide a third alternative outside of the racialized nature of Guyanese politics, but it is unfortunately the case that even these third parties become part of the problem as well.
What is especially unfortunate in Guyana’s case is the shift to the right which is apparent in Guyanese politics. In the 1970s, the PNC, PPP, and WPA had disagreements and differences among each other, which often became extremely contentious and even violent, but all three parties agreed on the basic premise of advocating for a politics which rejected imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism. Today the major parties which continue to dominate Guyana’s politics have embraced neoliberal vision which has moved Guyana further away from the vision of a meaningful independence and a society which truly empowers the Guyanese working class. These parties have also moved away from the commitment to anti-colonialism of the past.
Meaningful change in Guyana requires not only a change in leadership, but a change in politics. It requires a change in how the Guyanese people think about their political leaders and the political parties which they support. Politics in Guyana cannot continue to be racially driven contests for power to elect a political ruling class who is disconnected from the needs and the struggles of the Guyanese people.
This new politics must also signal a return to the anti-colonialism of the past. As the OVP’s Gerald A. Perreira recently noted:
As nations across the Global South courageously confront the centers of Imperial power and thousands inside the belly of the beast rebel, Guyana finds itself on the wrong side of history. While others rise up to bury neo-colonialism from the African Sahel to Palestine, from Yemen to Lebanon, from Haiti to New Caledonia and beyond, most recently in Kenya, Guyana holds firmly onto the tail of the drowning cow. A country, which under Forbes Burnham was a world leader when it came to standing up to imperialism, is now enslaved by it.
Indeed, throughout the Global South we are seeing fierece resistance and struggle for advancement. Guyana is a nation with a long history of producing revolutionary freedom fighters, such as Cuffy who led the Berbice rebellion in 1763.
The new politics which must be developed in Guyana is in reality not new at all because this tradition of struggling for justice and liberation is deeply entrenched in the historical tradition of Guyana. Guyana is a nation whose people have struggled against the abuses of slavery, indentureship, and colonialism. The Guyanese people emerged triumphant in all of these struggles, but today Guyana is confronted with the reality of neo-colonialism, which is a system that Kwame Nkrumah referred to as the last stage of imperialism. Overcoming this last stage requires developing a new politics rooted in Guyana’s historical tradition of struggle for freedom. It’s the only way forward for the Guyanese people.
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