-says Guyana’s democracy remains under great stress
In a comparison of the post-independence histories of Guyana and India, former UG Chancellor Dr Bertrand Ramcharan has identified a number of areas here for vigilance including the “cult of personality at the apex of government”.
Cult of personality usually refers to the presenting of a public figure to the people of a country as a great person who should be admired and revered. While Dr Ramcharan named no one his reference to the apex of government would point at President Irfaan Ali around whom other analysts have said this cult of personality was developing.
Dr Ramcharan, a long serving international civil servant who has held senior positions in the UN system, in an August 11 column in Kiskadee Watch identified a number of areas for Guyanese to be watchful about.
He said that there was need to 1. Monitor grievances by different sectors of the population; 2. Address social inequalities particularly affecting indigenous communities; 3. Always be mindful of the risks of environmental degradation; 4. Address the declining capability of public institutions, including the non-functioning of parliament and political encroachments on the police and the judiciary; and 5. Be vigilant about the cult of personality at the apex of government.
Dr Ramcharan, previously a Fellow of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, cited six comparisons that could be made of the
post-independence histories of India and Guyana. The first two of these he said relate to democracy and elections.
“While there was a moment of stress when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi arbitrarily declared an emergency in 1975-77, independent India has held fast to democratic governance throughout its post-independence history. It has a venerable history of conducting democratic elections at the federal and the state levels.
“The government of Guyana, on the other hand, trampled on democracy between 1968 and 1992, and the party responsible for this tried to do so again in 2020 with a blatant attempt to rig the elections. Elections in Guyana have invariably come under ethnic tensions: pre-elections, during electoral campaigns, and post-elections. Fortunately, the 2025 general elections ended smoothly but there have since been many shenanigans about the functioning of Parliament and respect for the role of opposition parties. Guyana’s democracy remains under great stress”, Dr Ramcharan wrote.
On economic policies, he said that as related by Kapur and Subramanian (a former Economic Adviser to the Indian Government), India has had four phases: planning failure; growth without structural transformation; fiscal and redistributive measures; and skewed and ambivalent globalization. Kapur and Subramanian, he said, make the point forcefully that living standards can only be improved in a country when there is economic growth.
Guyana’s economic history, Dr Ramcharan said, saw phases of so-called socialist planning with no growth, liberalisation of the economy with resultant growth, heavy debt burdens to international creditors – which have now attenuated, and more recently massive infrastructural investments using funding from oil and gas, with persistent poverty affecting broad sections of the polity. There have been some initial handouts from oil and grass “but so far there has not been a considered effort to tackle the root causes and the incidence of poverty”, Dr Ramcharan asserted.
On social inequality, he said that India continues to experience massive problems when it comes to the plight of the untouchables (Dalits), of tribals, and of women.
“In Guyana, its indigenous peoples, known locally as Amerindians, continue to suffer from widespread economic and social deprivations. India’s women suffer from many social inequalities rooted in customs and practices going back centuries. Guyanese women are probably more liberated and vibrant in defending their rights, but they continue to suffer from many inequities”, Dr Ramcharan stated.
On the role of the Courts, he said that India’s Supreme Court has set a sterling example of independence and originality.
“Legendary Indian Chief Justice P.C. Bhagwati participated in a human rights conference in Guyana in 1996 (that I also attended) and won the admiration of the Guyanese Judiciary and Bar. Notwithstanding this, Kapur and Subramanian describe a painful picture of across the board incompetence in judicial administration and growing political interference with the judiciary. It is painful to read this and we would let the reader consult the evidence for herself or himself”, Dr Ramcharan said.
In Guyana, he stated that the Judiciary and the Bar have valiantly struggled for their independence in the face of encroachments from every political party so far in governance.
“Between 1964 and 1992, the ruling party proclaimed the doctrine of paramountcy of the party over all institutions including the judiciary. A former Chancellor of the Judiciary gave a notorious lecture on ‘Socialist Legality’. I interviewed him shortly after, and he clearly did not believe in the tenets he had put forth.
“Yet, as I showed in my book on the Guyana Court of Appeal, which covered the period 1966 to 2000, great judges such as E.V. Luckhoo and J.O.F. Haynes, put down legal precedents that have enriched Guyana’s jurisprudence. There are, today, fine judges, led by the Acting Chancellor, who hand down courageous decisions, but are then lectured to by senior governmental leaders. This is an unfortunate phenomenon that hopefully will diminish when Guyana’s democracy is more vibrant and the Opposition is allowed to play a meaningful role in Parliament”, Dr Ramcharan argued.
On the question of graft, Dr Ramcharan said that Kapur and Subramanian describe a situation in which corruption is endemic in all parts of government in India. The facts they marshal are painful to read, he said.
“Alas, from what one reads, corruption seems to be endemic in governance in Guyana as well”, he stated.
Noting that the ties between India and Guyana have been, and remain, quite close, Dr Ramcharan said it is appropriate to reflect on, and learn from, each other’s experiences.
“India’s attachment to democracy and the holding of free and fair elections is inspiring. Guyana has much to learn from India in these areas. These are areas where the two countries can engage in beneficial exchanges and cooperation”, he added.
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