Please see full statement from the People’s National Congress Reform below:
The People’s National Congress Reform is pleased to extend greetings and good wishes to all of the people of Guyana as we celebrate the 52nd Anniversary of our Republican status. On this 52nd anniversary, the PNCR believes there is no more fitting message than that given by its Founder Leader – and the main architect of our Republican status – Forbes Burnham, who on the 9th anniversary of the Republic said:
“… we, Guyanese, made the final and decisive ascension of our political and psychological independence by completing severing the remaining constitutional links with the colonial power. For us the coming into being of the Cooperative Republic was the logical culmination of the struggle of independence initiated over 200 years ago by our national hero Coffy in Magdalenenburg, Berbice. But as I have always emphasized, political independence is not an end in itself. Rather, it represents an opportunity to create a society in which all citizens are assured of social and economic justice.”
Today, with the country’s vast oil wealth, the achievement of that social and economic justice is well within reach. For the PNCR, the achievement of social and economic justice must first be driven by a heartfelt and continuous commitment to all Guyanese by their government. It must also be motivated by a genuine desire to deliver on the obligations to citizens enshrined in the Guyana constitution and in the international conventions on socio-economic rights to which Guyana is a signatory. Guyanese today do not see that drive and commitment in the present PPP regime.
As such, the PNCR takes this opportunity to sign on to a Contract with Guyana to urgently create a society based on guaranteed political, social, and economic rights—such as those enshrined in Article 40 of the Guyana constitution which grants citizens the “right to a happy, creative, and productive life, free from hunger, ignorance and want.” Guyana stands at a pivotal point. Far less time than another 52 years is required to create a society free of poverty, inequality, exclusion, and injustice.
On this auspicious day, the PNCR recommits to the grand objectives of those who ensured that Guyana, on 23rd February, 1970, “made the final and decisive ascension of our political and psychological independence” and who placed us on a path of national self-determination and reconstruction. On this day, we must also pay homage to all those who fought for freedom and independence over the centuries with great courage and great sacrifice, especially the Great Coffy in Berbice in 1763, whose revolution inspired the choice of February 23rd and who continues to inspire us today. Good wishes to all.
