Declaration of Sophia

Chapter 10 The Task Ahead

10.1 The task that lie ahead as the P.N.C completes its first ten years of stewardship are many and tremendous. We have alluded to some of them, and the catalogue is not complete. Basically, ours is the burden and privilege of revolutionising our economy and society, removing all traces and incidents of poverty and exploitation, and building a new system and state in place of the old, which have proved inadequate. We have to develop Guyana into a prosperous and just society where the people's welfare and happiness are transcendental.

10.2 But this is not achieved by mere enthusiasm, rhetoric and the passing of resolutions. The opposition is and will be great. The legacies of the old order based on man's exploitation of man are attractive to the uninitiated. The tactics of the enemy are varied and subtle.

10.3 The most disparate human vehicles from arch conservatives to phrase-mongering "revolutionaries", will be used to defeat our purpose. In the circumstances, the Party must be highly organised and well trained to mobilise the nation, give leadership to the people and identity and rout the enemy regardless of the guise in which he clothes himself.

The Party Membership

10.4 We have already agreed that membership of the P.N.C should only be conferred upon those who have been tried and tested.

10.5 Each member must be grounded in the ideology and programme of the Party. He must be not merely a member, but an active member of a co-operative. He must engage himself prominently and unapologetically in community activities and self-help projects. He must educate others as he has been educated. He must take part in all relevant Party exercises and programmes. He must inform and be informed by the people among whom he lives and with whom he works. He must make the sacrifices he calls upon others to make, and more. He must display ingenuity and initiative. His primary loyalty must be to the Party wherever he is or finds himself.

The Party Group

10.6 The Group has been described as the basic unit of the Party's organisation. Every Party member must be attached to a Group. It is through the Group that activities have to be carried out and communication maintained with the other Party units and agencies. It is through the Group that the education of members will be carried out and it is from the Group eventually that the Central Secretariat and leadership will get vital information and advice. The Group is the means through which the Party will maintain direct contact with the people, the masses.

10.7 Because of the importance of the Group, it is proposed to limit its geographical scope so as to ensure thoroughness and intensity of organisation and mobilisation. In most cases, particularly in built-up areas, a Group will cover at most two blocks. The District and Regional Committees and Conferences are important, but their effective functioning is directly related to the reliability and vitality of the Groups.

10.8 In the new structure, performance and hard work will be stressed and rewarded. There will be no room for eye-catching manoeuvres; and preferment from one level of leadership to the higher ones will come to those who do rather than to those who talk. On this basis, top leadership posts will be open to all Party members.

10.9 We now are a Party seriously intent on redefining our new role in the nation. We have undertaken as a mass party, and the major national institution, to lead Guyana to the socialist ideal.

10.10 I have said on other occasions and in other places, this is a goal. It must not be imagined that by mere declaration and resolve Guyana will become socialist. It is a process which has to be planned and hastened. But we are not yet at the end of the process, which will take some time - we hope the shortest possible - to be completed.