DONALD AND ROBERT

Jun 27, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Peeper had successfully predicted that Robert Corbin would have succeeded Desmond Hoyte as President. At a time when all manner of candidates were being touted as possible successors; at a time when there was talk about a mechanism to identify a successor, the Peeper predicted that if Robert Corbin wanted the leadership, it was his for the taking.

The Peeper was proven correct. The Peeper has also had a track record of correctly predicting political behaviour in Guyana. Today I want to venture an opinion as to the likely outcome of the PPP Congress slated for August this year.

I expect two major contenders to emerge as the Presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party. I do not expect there will be any questions as to who will be the frontrunners in contention and which camps are the ones likely to woo the Executive Committee in 2011 to name a Presidential candidate.

I am not reducing the race to a two horse event. I am simply saying that the outcome of the forthcoming Congress of the party would see two frontrunners, any of whom is likely to become the eventual Presidential candidate of the PPP.

First of all, there is no question that Robert Persaud, the Minister of Agriculture, is expected to be one of the leading contenders. He has a huge following within the youth arm of the party and his supporters will no doubt leverage his position as Minister of Agriculture to boost his standing with the rural party groups.

Persaud is a highly visible Minister and his Ministerial experience should serve him well. Politically, however, he has shown little that is likely to be different from his mentor, Bharrat Jagdeo, and this is where he is likely to face his greatest liability.

I believe that by the time the 2011 elections come around, this nation would be looking for someone different from Bharrat Jagdeo. Persaud’s close association with the President could therefore work against him, that is, unless he does the sensible thing and breaks free of the Jagdeo jinx.

The second frontrunner is someone that I think can make it all the way to the Presidency. What Robert Corbin is in the PNCR , Donald Ramotar is within the PPP. Donald Ramotar can gain the party’s nod as its presidential candidate if he wants to.

There is no doubt in my mind that if Donald wants to become the next President, if he feels he is up to the rigours of the office, if he is determined to go for the job, it is his for the taking.

There are lots of decent persons within the PPP but none more so that Donald Ramotar. I may not admire his politics but I have always had the greatest respect for his honesty and his principled conduct.

There are not many people who would know Donald Ramotar closely but those who do will confirm that he is a decent human being and someone that I believe who can be trusted to stick to agreements that he has made with the political opposition.

I think that if Donald Ramotar were President of Guyana, the political situation in Guyana would have been far different and much improved.

I think the PNCR and the Alliance for Change can work with someone like Donald who may strike a hard bargain, but will stick to his end of the agreement and not put the country through the sort of frustrating process it has had to endure firstly in the Dialogue Process, then in the Constructive Engagement process and later the Stakeholder Forum.

Guyana needs someone as President with fresh economic ideas. Donald while a trained economist may be lacking in experience in this area, mainly because I believe that he has never had ministerial experience, something that I believe is of critical importance whomever takes over the Presidency in 2011.

On the other hand, Guyana needs a fresh wind of change in terms of our politics. Guyana needs someone who the opposition can trust to be a genuine partner in terms of listening and addressing their concerns.
This is the area that I believe separates Donald from Robert.

Donald, I believe, would be a far superior candidate than Robert when it comes to initiating new and more receptive political engagements.

As I said, if Donald wants the position as the PPP Presidential candidate, he will have it from the Executive of the party. And this is why this forthcoming Congress is likely to be such an exciting affair because we can be certain that there will be attempts by supporters of other contenders to ensure that they stack the Executive Committee with persons that would support their candidates.
All of this makes the outcome of the Congress eagerly anticipated.

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DONALD AND ROBERT

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