PPP and PNC: Existence, Persistence, and Racial Divide - Research Paper Example

PPP and PNC: Existence, Persistence, and Racial Divide Introduction In contemporary Guyana, there are two partisan political parties that exist and persist: the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) and the Peoples National Congress (PNC). Historically, these two parties were one; both of their leaders were co-founders of the PPP prior to the split. In spite of the division and final split of the PPP, the two parties remain to be predominant and popular in the Guyana politics. There is logic why PPP and PNC thrive into the present time. The three main reasons why these partisan parties are still standing are because of their (1) middle-class leadership, (2) mass support, and (3) economic/ideological programs. In the long process, the division of the original PPP had generated a racial divide: between Afro- and Indo-Guyanese tribes. This paper discusses the logic of the existence and continuance of the PNC and the PPP in the modern-day Guyanese society. Further, it argues that the two parties are racially entrenched. PPP and PNC, Two Ruling Parties Middle-Class Leadership One of the reasons why the PPP and the PNC are the only two main political parties in Guyana is because both significantly constitute a middle-class membership/leadership. Hintzen observes that there was disunity among Guyanese workers in the 1940s, prior to the establishment of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC). The rationale for this disunity and lack of direction is widely attributed to the absence of middle-class leadership, among other things (Hintzen 33). Workers in the same time-period largely belonged to the lower stratum of the Guyanese society. Perhaps based from the Leninist perspective, Hintzen contends that the numberless lower class needs to be guided by particular educated middle class in pursuing and attaining a certain political/economic objective. The logic for this greatly lies from the fact that middle-class individuals have much more theoretical mindset drawn from their educational upbringing. In the process, the middle class has the capacity to think and plan for the direction and goal of a specific organization. Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham, two prominent leaders of the PPP and the PNC political parties, had extensive educational background -- both studied in Europe. Mass Mobilization It must be noted that the leaders of the two parties dominant in the Guyana political sphere were once “friends” or members of one single organization, the PAC. The split of the PAC in the early 1960s mainly came from the disagreement between Jagan and Burnham (Williams 35). The creation of two contending parties -- the PNC and the PPP -- also created a racial divide among Guyanese people. Williams thus states: “This split … allegedly divided the population along the lines of its major ethnic segments, with Africans supporting the PNC and East Indians supporting the PPP (35). The PNC organization was governed by Burnham while the PPP party was held by Jagan. In essence, the PPP and the PNC are the two predominant political parties in Guyana for the reason that both of them have numerous supporters coming from varied racial background. The Guyanese population is largely composed of people who have an East Indian and African ancestries. The dominance of these racial groups in the said country makes it possible for PPP and PNC to thrive. Economic Program Further, Jagan’s PPP and Burnham’s PNC became the two long-standing parties in the Guyana political landscape for the reason that both possess ideologies or economic programs that are attractive to the people. In the 1970, for instance, the PNC party had introduced a new political paradigm -- what Peake and Trotz call “radical policy change” -- and named its government as a Co-operative Socialist Republic (Peake and Trotz 54). After the 1966 Independence, Burnham’s party/government had revolutionized the processes and systems marked in the Guyana geopolitics. In fact, the PNC had nationalized the companies and/or industries salient in the Guyana economy. Similar to Burnham’s, Jagan’s party was a socialist one (Hintzen 114); that is, PNC and PPP were inclined for the economic/political freedom of the oppressed people. Their variation, on the other hand, greatly depended on the emphasis of rural and urban development. Unlike Burnham’s policy, Jagan’s economic program focused more on the rural life and progress. Hintzen says that the strength of the PPP party was derived from East Indian rural folk (47). PPP, Standing Still Democracy One of the reasons why Jagan’s PPP party remains to stand today is because of the emergence and continuation of a democratic election which was held since 1992 -- the so-called first “free and fair” election after Guyana’s Independence (Peake and Trotz 56). Under the rule of PNC, it has been accounted that the country had undergone massive electoral fraud, thereby maintaining its position/power in Guyana’s political arena. Thomas even notes that Guyana’s economy had significantly declined -- especially in the 1970s -- due to the “regime’s lack of legitimacy” and corruption (qtd. in Peake and Trotz 55). As it seems, Burnham’s political party had less support from the Guyana masses considering that the Indo-Guyanese people were numerous in number. Only cheating, fraud, and corruption were the last resort for PNC to remain in its power. But when the democratic election was instituted -- it was reaffirmed in 1997 (Peake and Trotz 10) -- Jagan’s political party reemerged from the political scene and lingers to be predominant in the field of Guyana geopolitics. Neoliberalism After the death of Burnham and the affirmation of democratic election, the political administration under the leadership of Jagan had underwent a fundamental shift from the radical economic system into the more “conservative” paradigm: neoliberalism. With Janet Jagan -- Cheddi ’s widow -- as the president of Guyana, the IMF- and WB-funded Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) had continued in order to, in theory, ameliorate the living of the Guyana folk (Peake and Trotz 56). It is arguable that the existence or persistence of the PPP organization is attributed to the neoliberal shift undertaken by Jagan and her political party. Departing from the socialist rhetoric, the present-day PPP surprisingly embraced the world order commonly known as globalization. Probably due to the failure of PNC’s socialist stance, the PPP party had opted to a “new” way or system of achieving freedom from economic bondage. In fact, Roopnarine states that Guyana’s economic conditions have considerably improved since the return to power of the PPP. Indo-Guyanese Support Of the key rationale why PPP lingers to exist and dominate in the Guyana politics, the support of the Guyana populace is the most persuasive. It must be remembered that the PPP favors the welfare and interest of the Indo-Guyana citizen. In effect, the rural (and urban) Indians wholly favor the People Progressive Party. Peake and Trotz note that the Indo-Guyana is more populous than the Afro-Guyana with respect to the 1991 population survey; they remark that the “Indians accounted for 48 per cent of the population, [while] Africans 33 per cent” (Peake and Trotz 10). With the backing of numerous Indo-Guyanese people, it is no longer a wonder why the PPP party thrives up to this day. In a democratic society, election is more of numbers than anything else. Whichever political party has a number of votes, such party is guaranteed to win the election. Of course, this is assumed that election is fair and free from fraud, cheating, and coercion. Racial Divide Nature of Work The difference between the PPP and NPC political parties is arguably embedded in racism or racial background. Hintzen remarks that the variation between the two organizations is rooted in racial difference; he reasons out that “[given] the racially differentiated occupational system, the new unions that emerged became racially exclusive” (Hintzen 37). What Hintzen is saying is that work in Guyana -- it became obvious around the Independence era -- was racially oriented; meaning to say, a particular person of certain racial/ethnic background generally lands in a specific job in which the workers have similar background compared to him. Indo-Guyanese people, for example, widely worked in the rural agricultural setting. In creating their political organization, it is unavoidable that its members are largely Indians considering the proximity of place and the nature of work. Conversely, the Afro-Guyanese people greatly worked in the urban environment; thus, the establishment of a political party is inevitably reflected in the people, with distinct racial/ethnic composition, who composed such organization. Colonization On the other hand, Williams seems to imply that the racial entrenchment in organizations such as PPP and NPC is connected to historical events that occurred in Guyana. In particular, during the Dutch era in Guyana, the colonizer made attempts and ways to enslave certain racial/ethnic people. When the Dutch turned to agriculture as a means of extracting goods and thereby profit, the foreign colonizer opted to “hire” African slaves in order to do the task. The Indo-Guyana tribe subverted the economic plans of the Dutch, thus, the latter created an “alternative source of labor” (Williams 133). Williams says that the Indo-Guyana people had geographical advantage against the Dutch -- they know the land and terrain; in the effect, the colonizer made them their “friends.” It is arguable that this racial difference designed historically by the colonizer is one of the reasons why the PPP and the PNC are racially divided. Perception Racism is arguably a perception of variation (e.g., skin color, custom, etc.) between or among races or ethnic groups. In the Independence period, there was a public perception that the PNC political party was “ruling on behalf of its Afro-Guyanese constituents” (Peake and Trotz 55). In this time-period, Burnham’s partisan political party intentionally departed from focusing on the development of the country’s agricultural economy. It was commonly acknowledged that the Indo-Guyanese were numerous and predominant in this particular field of economic system. As a process, the idea grew that the PNC was anti-Indo-Guyanese and pro-Afro-Guyanese. From such perception, it became apparent that the two parties in Guyana, the PPP and the PNC, are racially entrenched. Based from their policies and programs, these two partisan political parties essentially served a specific race or ethnic group. Conclusion Jagan’s PPP and Burnham’s PNC are still the leading partisan political parties in the present-day Guyana. In particular, the PPP party is very popular among the Indo-Guyanese people. Meanwhile, the PNC party is very attractive for the Afro-Guyanese group. As has been shown, the two parties are dominant in the Guyana political landscape because of their middle-class leadership, strong mass support, and ideology/economic programs. Today, the PPP is outnumbering the PNC; and with the institution of post-Independence election that is free and fair, the Peoples Progressive Party reemerged as a powerful political party in the Guyana geopolitics. What is interesting in the split of the party in the 1960s is the fact that such a split created a racial division among the Guyanese people. Of course, the racial divide already existed even in the colonial Guyana. At the present time, there is a perception that the PPP and the PNC are racially embedded. Works Cited Hintzen, Percy C. The Costs of Regime Survival: Racial Mobilization, Elite Domination and Control of the State in Guyana and Trinidad. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print. Peake, L., and D. Alissa Trotz. Gender, Ethnicity and Place: Women and Identities in Guyana. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print. Roopnarine, Lomarsh. “Small-Scale Gold Mining and Environmental Policy Challenges in Guyana: Protection or Pollution.” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 31.61 (2006): 115+. Print. Williams, Brackette F. Stains on My Name, War in My Veins: Guyana and the Politics of Cultural Struggle. London: Duke UP, 1991. Print. Read More