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The PPP’s point man for general elections will either be Ramkarran or Ramotar

Jan 16, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
I would like to add my comments to the correspondence of my good friend, Malcolm Haripaul, (“Mr. Ralph Ramkarran’s Democratic Centralism”, Kaieteur News, January 6, 2011).
Mr. Ramkarran has been the focus of many political observers much more than the other two major contenders, Donald Ramotar and Moses Nagamootoo. With an impossible situation facing Nagamootoo, one can say that the PPP’s point man for this year’s election will either be Ramkarran or Ramotar. I have no interest in making a comparison between these two gentlemen. Both scare me, frighten me and will not be good for Guyana. And one reason explains this – they come with baggage larger than former PNC rulers
I honestly feel that if analysts have to choose between the two, Ramkarran will get the nod. And the reason being that for too long Ramkarran has come across as publicly a less deceitful person and more modest. This is the Cheddi Jagan thing that has fooled people about Jagan for more than 60 years of his life on earth. Jagan was always the nice guy in public or when he is in your face. But as soon as Jagan disappeared, he was the Machiavellian transmitter of the knife to Mrs. Jagan. What is about to follow I have never touched with my pen before – on a very personalized and personal level, Ramotar has been less poisonous to me as a human rights activist than Ramkarran. I don’t want to use personal criteria in my social analyses. Such a methodology has no place in scholarly critiques.
I wish Nagamotoo gets the nomination, but things need to be said about Mr. Ramkarran along the lines adumbrated by my personal friend, Malcolm Harripaul. I will leave readers with one example of Mr. Ramkarran’s lapse in his legal conduct for which I cannot forgive him nor should the people of Guyana.
The Council of the University did not extend the contract of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. James Rose and appointed Dr. Mark Kirton as acting Vice-Chancellor. The next day, the Pro-Chancellor was ordered by (we all know who in addition to a former PPP-Reform Minister who is now writing about democracy in the newspapers) to cancel Dr. Kirton’s installation and revert to Dr. Rose. That was done and the two university unions moved to the courts. We got a NISE ORDER from Judge Patterson.
Mr. Ramkarran’s firm, in the form of an opinion written by Mr. Ramkarran himself, advised the Council of the University to view the NISI ORDER as not having legal effect  and that the University must retain Dr. Rose. The two unions went to several lawyers for an interpretation of what the ruling meant. All, without exception, told us it prevents the sacking of Kirton.
The total number of lawyers consulted was nine. Of those nine one was Ms. Priya Manickchand who discussed the issue with me in the kitchen of her home. Khemraj Ramjattan wrote a trenchant piece in the Kaieteur News in rebuttal to Mr. Ramkarran.
This was four years ago. Up to this day, I still ask people what a NISI order means. I was freed from the Brickdam lock-up during the Christmas season because of a NISI order. Commonsense informed both unions that the order had to have some meaning because why would the judge have granted it. If nothing changed and Kirton’s sacking was legal then why did the judge give us a NISI order? On Ramkarran’s advice, the University carried on as if noting happened. Lawyers told us it was a lawless disrespect for court rulings. Unfortunately, we took an inexperienced lawyer who was still to get his feet on the ground. He volunteered his service and we appreciated that gesture. Kirton migrated and the University went further down the drain – in my opinion, thanks to Mr. Ralph Ramkaran. I don’t want Mr. Ramkarran to be Guyana’s president when I think about these things he did.
Frederick Kissoon

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