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PRESS STATEMENT Constitutional Process key to Political Transition in Guyana – CHRI New Delhi, August 5, 2020 – The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) said today that upholding of the Constitutional process helped Guyana in its political transition, ending a long dispute over the result of the general elections. “A key factor was the upholding of the constitutional process,” said Sanjoy Hazarika, CHRI ‘s International Director. “CHRI calls on all parties to abide by the Commonwealth principles of human rights, tolerance, respect and understanding, freedom of expression and rule of law.” Forty-year old Irfaan Ali of the People’s Progressive Party was sworn in as the ninth President of Guyana last week – five months after the polls closed on March 2. The results were declared after a full recount following weeks of wrangling and allegations of vote tampering. CHRI emphasised the patience of the Guyanese who trusted their electoral and justice system despite the controversies and delays. The election came at a time when the economy of Guyana, till now a poor country, may be transformed by one of the world’s biggest oil discoveries off its coast. Noting that the Commonwealth Secretariat had reminded Guyana about “fundamental principles treasured by the Commonwealth family”, CHRI supported the role of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which had earlier intervened in efforts to resolve the issue. For further information, contact: Aditya Sharma Media and Advocacy Officer [email protected] humanrightsinitiative.org | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube .

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India Guyana Bilateral Relation
India-Guyana Bilateral Relations During the colonial period, Guyana's economy was focused on plantation agriculture, which initially depended on slave labour. Guyana saw major slave rebellions in 1763 and again in 1823.Great Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act in British Parliament that abolished slavery in most British colonies, freeing more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa. British Guiana became a Crown colony in 1928, and in 1953 it was granted home rule. In 1950, Mr. Cheddi Jagan, who was Indian-Guyanese, and Mr. Forbes Burnham, who was Afro-Guyanese, created the colony's first political party, the Progressive People's Party (PPP), which was dedicated to gaining the colony's independence. In the 1953 elections, Mr. Cheddi Jagan was elected chief minister. Mr. Cheddi Jagan of the PPP and Mr. Forbes Burnham of the PNC were to dominate Guyana politics for decades to come. In 1961, Britain granted the colony autonomy, and Mr. Cheddi Jagan became Prime Minister (1961–1964). In 1964, Burnham succeeded Jagan as Prime Minister, a position he retained after the country gained full independence on May 26, 1966. With independence, the country returned to its traditional name, Guyana. Mr. Burnham ruled Guyana until his death in 1985 (from 1980 to 1985, after a change in the constitution, he served as president). Mr. Desmond Hoyte of the PNC became president in 1985, but in 1992 the PPP reemerged, winning a majority in the general election. Mr. Cheddi Jagan became President, and succeeded in reviving the economy. After his death in 1997, his wife, Janet Jagan, was elected President.
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Office of the President
Office of the President Address to the Nation by His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces regarding actions of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela January 9, 2021 I had not anticipated speaking to you in a national broadcast so soon after my New Year’s Day statement. But a troubling event has occurred concerning our territorial integrity that requires that I speak to you directly, in full transparency, and to keep you fully informed. As you are aware, Guyana has maintained an Embassy in Venezuela accredited to the Government. Equally, we have continued to welcome a Venezuelan Embassy in Guyana accredited to our Government. In other words, Guyana has scrupulously kept all official channels of communication open to the Government of Venezuela. We have done so even as we pursued our right to request the UN Secretary-General to refer to the International Court of Justice (the ICJ) the long-standing contention with Venezuela over the 1899 arbitral award. At no time have we engaged in making any statements regarding the continuing inflammatory remarks, emanating from the Government and other parties in Venezuela, except to continue to affirm our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have always chosen a path of peaceful resolution of the Venezuelan issue within international law. It is, therefore, deeply disturbing that, on January 7th, the President of Venezuela, Mr Nicolas Maduro, issued a decree claiming for Venezuela sovereignty and exclusive sovereign rights in the waters and seabed adjacent to Guyana’s coast, west of the Essequibo River.
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The Judiciary of GUYANA CAJO NEWS Team
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Promises Booklet1
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Joint Communique
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Political Change, Democracy, and Human Rights in Guyana
ThirdWorld Quarterly, Vol 18, No 2, pp 267± 285, 1997 Political change,democracy, and humanrights in Guyana IVELAWL GRIFFITH Theannals of Guyana’ s politicalhistory will surely record 1992 as anhistoric year,for that year was amilestonein thetransition from authoritarian politics to democraticpolitics. Also signi® cant was theemergence from the political wildernessof Cheddie Jagan. Having ® rst enteredpolitics in 1946, Jagan was oustedfrom power by the British in 1953, and again in 1964, in collusion with theUSA, because of his communist orientation. Ironically, though, it was the USAitself that helped to engineer his return to power in 1992. The circum- stances thatled to the re-emergence of Jagan, and his re-emergence itself, have usheredin a newera inGuyanese politics, one which spotlights the triumphs andpitfalls of democracy and human rights in South America’ s onlyEnglish- speakingrepublic. Politicalanalysts accept that the status and conduct of both democracy and humanrights in various parts of the world are in¯uenced by the nature and operationof the political regime governing a particularsociety. With this in mind,this article examines the relationship between regime change and democ- racyand human rights in Guyana. The analysis shows that there has beenboth changeand continuity over the past decade; change in regime and regime politicsand policies, and continuity in regime policies that conditioned the environmentto pursuedemocracy. In Guyana, the constitution and the approach ofpolitical elites incorporate civil and political rights as wellas economicand socialones. However, given the link between the attainment of the latter set of rightsand the economic health of society on the one hand, and Guyana’ s economicdoldrums on the other, it is unreasonableto expect any major near-termadvancement in economic and social rights.
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