vy 10 iS | 5 | hi | BRITISH GOV'T GSED EVERY TRICK— - Prog testory Ice ousted it in 1953. GEORGETOWN The-people of British Guiana have just given the People’s tessive party an overwhelming vote i ing it to the government from which the British Colonial The 1951 constitution, suspended of. confidence by Our years ago, has ctill not been restored_and control powers are stil] remade their desire clear. Seine PPp victory in last Shth’s elections — it carried Tune of 14-elective seats — is all th ; we € more impressive be- Se it was won in face of a Meeeeciong British: cam- flgn of disruption, intimida- inn and political trickery. And i the election campaign itself : ery anti-Communist slander 8S used to sway voters. tj 1 preparation for the elec- tieg & gerrymander was car- seat through. The number of 4 S Was reduced from 24 to Eee constituency bound- a S Were redrawn to whittle me PPP. chances, he East Berbice constit- Dr. Cheddi Jagan, PPP a » Contested (and won thks Somely) was e qual to in th. and a half constituencies ae election. But. where 97 1S Constituency had 31,- a ts on the rolls two the ppp Stituencies in which Weak Was considered to be 3,879 Were left untouched with p 8nd 3,450 votes. Oppose owt ymander helped. the Stat 10n parties to take five the SR the combined. vote. of Widate ®cesstul Opposition can- ey 4 * Was less than that poll- it conta r. Jagan alone — but fro, | BOL prevent the PPP larg Tolling up a total vote - er t "Posiio;, m that of the four fet ice and suspended the “Stitut; which’ it British gov- conducted a d campaign against 6 “ht has thaw Side . S Ppp Penge diately following sus- | Broo on of the constitution and | &e, ation of the Emerg- ang 4° raids on PPP offices | Ppp ®mes were staged. Many | Were .S2ders and members iaiieg SPeSted, detained and + Oh th €strictions were placed lege. Movements of PPP Meeting On gatherings and the Pugh the press and over ist oa every anti-Commun- i) “der was given public- | Wer, eborts of PPP actions ents \Storted and PPP state- Aco ere blacked out. | the ppucerted effort to disrupt a from within culmin- Chay uwnham, former party fatiy, 2 and minister of edu- he, ‘2 the deposed govern- My, 9 Urnham led a small fgg. Ut of the PPP in 1955 Contes Up a rival Progressive | “tie S. Party headed by him- e . Split was encouraged by | on, 2 the breakway led by. vested in the governor, but the people of the colony the Robertson Commission’s report which stated that “so long as the PPP maintains its present leadership and_ polic- ies’ the country would con- tinue. marking time. Burnham and_ his followers used this as justification for their demand for _ policy changes which denied the need for militant struggle. The majority of the PPP membership however, remain- ed with Jagan, and other lead- ers and the breakaway failed in its aim. : The British government re- lied heavily on what the PPP termed a policy of “national bribery” to win popular sup- port for opposition parties. ‘Millions of pounds. were loaned to British Guiana for development. Housing loans were offered and social serv- ices were improved and ex- tended. : This campaign failed largely because it failed to satisfy the people’s demand for respons- ible self-government. The gov- ernment was, solely ..in the hands of appointed officials, the people were denied. any voice in their Own affairs, and the reforms did not touch their real grievances. eee The election campaign was the ‘culmination of the *four- year-long attack on the PPP. But PPP carrie GRIT. CONOQURAS & S. AMERICA GUIANA BRITISH The four opposition. parties tried to. make anti-Communism the main issue ~ Even John Burnham, leader of ‘the: splinter-PPP, who had shown some. hesitancy in red- . baiting his former associates, joined the attack, blaming the deposed PPP government for suspension -of the constitution. In the closing stage of the election campaign resignations from the PPP were used to smear that party and the press was filled with letters from former PPP members de- ’King, - Joined: Burnham -:in denounc:- netncing Jagan and other leaders. This campaign reach- ed its climax when Sydney former PPP © leader; ing the PPP, _ The fact that this campaign — failed to sway British Guiana: voters is a tribute to the pa- tient and consistent struggle waged by. the PPP for the peo- ple’s rights and the principled stand on the issues of respon- sible government . and. in- dependence within the Com- monwealth. Jagan says PPP will participate in government despite restrictions DR, CHEDDI JAGAN e government officials,” GEORGETOWN Dr. Cheddi Jagan, leader of the majority People’s Progres- sive party, said here last week with, the outcome of his talks with Governor son. He added in a press state- ment: “But in spite of our majority we cannot dominate the execu- tive council, for according to the constitutional. instruments, the governor need not accept the advice of the council.” The People’s Progressive party, ousted from office by the British government in 1953, .won a landslide victory in last month’s elections: “As-we see it, the constitu- tion will work only on a basis of good will, both’ on our part and on the part of the British Colonial Office, governor and Jagan said. For the purpose of creating a more efficient administrative machine, he said, he would have preferred the appoint- that he was quite satisfied Sir Patrick Reni- ment by the PPP of one or two nominated members of the ex- ecutive as provided for in the constitution. : Such an appointee’ could hava assumed the role of min- ister with portfolio relieving one or two of the over-bur- dened ministries. ; “We fail to see why this re- quest was not granted since in the final analysis the question of our control of the executive council or how many mem- bers we have on it is im- material.” Jagan said the PPp had agreed to participate in the sovernment “in spite of the constitutional restrictions and immense difficulties confront- ing us. We do so Mainly be- cause we are cognizant of the reservoir of good will behind us,” Stallan Jagan’s conduct throughout the. campaign earned the res- pect even of his opponents. Expressive of this was the statement made by Rev. C. G, from the pulpit of Geor getown’s Memorial Churth on the Stinday folléw- ing the elections. a ae “Politicians generally ‘are not renowned for ‘scrupulous integrity,” he said;* “but Dr: Jagan ranks among ‘those who are regarded alike by friends and opponents as a leadér and politician of honor ... . “The new government will bring the greatest: good to the greatest number, while build- ing the firmest foundations for future. prosperity if it puts its proposals one by one to the test of righteousness . . vf In a post-election interview with the BBC, Jagan said his party was prepared to work within the restrictions of the constitution but would take all democratic steps to have the constitution revised. Under existing constitutional provisions, the executive coun- cil, the policy making body, will have five elected and five appointed members, with the governor, Sir -Pa‘rick Renison, as chairman. The governor need not act on the advice of the executive council and cer- tain questions are outside the council’s authority. Final pow- er remains vested in the gov- érnor. Realizing that the constitu- tion severely limiis what it can do, the People’s Progres- Sive party nevertheless regards its election victory as a step toward restoration of full’ con- stitutional rights, September 13, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 9 Ss SOTO Of