In these last years, Desmond Hoyte’s liberal image took a heavy beating. Much of this was caused by what he said, when he said them, and how. Long after he is gone, his pronouncements about “making the country ungovernable” and “slow fire” would remain as additions to the political lexicon. But in the end it is history that would judge him, and how well he fought for his causes.

Suffice to say here and now that in these past five years it was never “business as usual” for Hoyte. Guyana experienced sustained political instability and turmoil. We became a nation in conflict and, we attracted a tall list of “peace initiatives”. Among these are ministrations by the so-called Caricom Wise Men, occasional visits of Caribbean Prime Ministers, Caricom Forensic Auditors, and past and current Caricom/Commonwealth Facilitators.

We sat at the negotiation table and hammered out the Herdmanston Accord and the St. Lucia Statement, and experimented with the Janet Jagan/Desmond Hoyte and Jagdeo/Hoyte failed Dialogues. In the end we changed a sitting president, forced constitutional changes and held pre-mature elections.

In spite of what might characterize the Hoyte era, I will always remember him as the politician who never gave up, and never ceded his turf.
I recall that in Parliament we have often found ourselves at loggerhead. On one occasion he demanded an apology from me for remarks I had made on his handling of the privatization process. When I stayed my ground, Hoyte promptly walked out of the House. He would stay out on other occasions, if I were on my feet. But once we were in the Lobby, he would remember none of that. We talked easily, though not often.

During October, I had expected to see him when I was admitted to the Guyana Bar. But he went to Buxton instead. However, just over a week ago my friend Dr. David Dabydeen (Guyana’s Ambassador to UNESCO) mentioned that he had met Desmond Hoyte. He said that he discussed publishing a collection of Hoyte’s articles/speeches on the Environment and on the Guyana Prize for Literature, both of which were his pet issues. During that meeting Hoyte showed him the books he would like to read for the holiday, which prompted David to present him his own copy of my novel, Hendree’s Cure. So David came to my house to uplift another copy.

That might be David’s excuse for wanting to see me. But I believe that the Guyanese professor and author/poet was more interested in sharing with me what has turned out to be Hoyte’s last conversation with him. In that conversation Hoyte revealed that he wanted to spend quality time on moving forward his party’s proposal for a national unity government.

While there would be time to fully assess Desmond Hoyte and his contributions to Guyana, none can deny that he has made his mark both as a liberal President and as a relentless Opposition Leader. But it is perhaps the vision that he has left of the political agenda for Guyana that would bring him greater glory – the hope for the future of a united Guyanese people.

Fare thee well, Dessy.

[The writer is a former PPP/C Government Minister and Member of Parliament].