THE PPP REMAINS STRONG

Aug 17, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

As I mentioned before, the competition for places on the Central Executive of the People’s Progressive Party was not so much about candidates but about factions.

Those elections were not just about who would make it into the top 25 but rather which faction or factions would dominate the Central Executive of the party.

That question was answered after the balloting with the old guard retaining much of its strength and the new guard of the party making significant headway also.

There were of course some persons who lost out on both sides but generally both of the main factions of the party retained their strength in those elections. It was felt that this time around the old guard would have given way.

However, the PPP has always placed emphasis on continuity and unity, and this again was evident by the strong showing of the old guard.

This is not necessarily a bad development because it shows that despite all the talk about the party’s aging leadership and the need for a greater injection of youth, the old guard was still able to command respect and ultimately support from the delegates of the party.

The old guard still remains a force within the PPP. Developments this past week have confirmed that the “old guard”, despite not occupying a great many of the top places in those elections, had the numbers enough to block the expected return and the anticipated elevation of Frank Anthony to the Executive Committee.

The non election of these two top performers – one who placed third in terms of the total number of votes received and the other who placed fifth – is the direct result of an uneasy but expedient alliance that has been forged by the old guard and the new guard.

Interestingly, this alliance was forged between groups which it was rumoured were not seeing eye to eye just prior to Congress.

It is no secret that there were serious strains in the relationship between the new guard and the old guard of the party. However, these strains did not unravel the party as it seems to have done in other political groupings.

Despite the strains, political expediency brought on by the surprise showing of Moses and Frank has resulted in an alliance of convenience between the two factions.

Cooperation between the factions was necessary to ensure that neither Moses nor Frank made it into the all-powerful Executive Committee.

I believe that the old guard which had the numbers but not sufficient to ensure their domination in the Executive Committee became extremely afraid of the strength of the support that both Anthony and Nagamootoo gained during the last Congress.

As such the two factions, despite having a less than good relationship over the years, have come together in what was seen as a common cause to deny what should have been automatic – the election of Moses and Frank to the Executive Committee.

The failure of both Moses Nagamootoo and Frank Anthony to make it into the all-powerful Executive Committee stands in direct contradiction to what the delegates at the last Congress voted for.

It is simply inconceivable that having polled third and fifth in the elections for Central Executive and more especially considering that both Anthony and Moses are experienced politicians with the former being a sitting Minister and the latter being a long-standing senior member of the party, that both of these persons should not be part of the Central Executive of the party.

While the recent developments are disconcerting, I believe that it will not divide the party. I believe that arising out of the just-concluded Congress of the party has been the firm conviction that the party must now play a more central role in pushing the legislative agenda of the government while solidifying internal unity.

The new Executive Committee is not much different in composition from the old one, signalling that there is not likely to be any major reverberations despite some personal disappointments.

The PPP, I believe, will now be fully focused on ensuring that the goals it sets out in its manifesto – both the political and economic objectives – are achieved so as to ensure that the party has a good chance of winning the 2011 elections, whoever is chosen as it Presidential candidate.

As for the political future of both Nagamootoo and Anthony, I believe that the party will continue to utilize the skills of both of these gentlemen so as to ensure that the PPP remains strong and unbeatable going into the next general elections.

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THE PPP REMAINS STRONG

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THE PPP REMAINS STRONG

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