PPP uses Guyana independence milestone to press unity and development agenda

Guyana’s governing People’s Progressive Party used the country’s 60th Independence Anniversary to make the case for its time in office, look back at major chapters in the nation’s political journey, and set out what it said is a broad development path under President Irfaan Ali.

In an Independence message issued Tuesday, the PPP said Guyana is now positioned for what it called a major period of national renewal. The party pointed to fast economic change, large infrastructure works, and increased attention from the international community as signs that the country is being viewed among the stronger performers in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The party argued that Guyana’s progress is not limited to economic expansion. It said the country is building a fresh sense of nationhood shaped by modernisation, digital change, and wider access to opportunities for its people.

The PPP also treated the anniversary as a moment to remember the difficult road that led to independence and the political battles that followed. It referred to colonial domination, ethnic tensions, and years it characterised as authoritarian government as part of the history Guyana has had to overcome.

“Colonialism was not benign. Freedom was won only because ordinary people demanded it,” the party said, adding that independence came through sacrifice, organising, and political struggle.

The statement again turned to Guyana’s years after independence, taking aim at the 1964 to 1992 period when the opposition People’s National Congress governed. The PPP said that era was defined by authoritarian rule, alleging election manipulation, repression of political opponents, economic decline, and deep poverty.

According to the party, almost 87 per cent of Guyanese were living under the poverty line by 1990, while Guyana had fallen among the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

The PPP said the return of free and fair elections in 1992 opened the way for national rebuilding, with democracy, economic repair, and long-term development placed at the centre of government policy.

It cited policy programmes developed over time, including the National Development Strategy and the Low Carbon Development Strategy. The party said those initiatives showed that its approach has been based on planning for the future, rather than short-term management alone.

For the coming five years, the PPP listed several areas it said will shape Guyana’s next stage. These include free education at all levels, wider use of digital learning and artificial intelligence, better access to healthcare through 12 new hospitals, and the creation of a Development Bank to help small and medium-sized enterprises.

The party also said it intends to place greater focus on agriculture, transport, infrastructure, public-sector modernisation, and digital government. Among the planned changes is a national electronic identification system.

The PPP said its programme is meant to reach Guyanese across the society, naming young people, women, older citizens, persons with disabilities, and Indigenous communities among those it said must benefit.

At the same time, the party cautioned against what it called “populist ideals” and political efforts that, in its view, seek to split the country for advantage. It urged Guyanese to hold together as the nation moves into what the party described as another period of progress.

Quoting former President Cheddi Jagan, the PPP said: “Freedom is indivisible; and unity and solidarity are essential for success.”

The statement ended with the party renewing its commitment to protect Guyana’s sovereignty as the border controversy with neighbouring Venezuela continues. “Every square inch of Guyana belongs to the people of Guyana,” the PPP declared.

Guyana became independent from the United Kingdom on May 26, 1966.