SEEKS DICTATORIAL LAW IN GUYANA
Forbes Burnham, the prime minister of Guyana, is seeking to get a "Preventive Detention Act" passed by Parliament that would give his regime virtually dictatorial powers. In demanding the law, Burnham claimed that the measure would not be as tough as the law used by the Indian government to jail political opponents, but he admitted that it would give him power, if passed, "to detain troublemakers without due process for as long as three months."
Dr. Cheddi B. Jagan, who heads the opposition, said in an interview November 21: "The Preventive Detention Act, or whatever they call it, only proves Mr. Burnham's intentions to become a strongman. The bill is a blatant incursion into the democratic rights of the Guyanese people. I shouldn't be surprised if it is followed by an antistrike labor act." Jagan also said, "You see, Mr. Burnham is in a bind. He has changed masters -- from London to Washington. His government is bankrupt in ideas, although he has far greater freedom of action than I had under colonial rule."