Can Ramotar bring victory for the PPP?

Jul 05, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I begin this essay by answering my own question. No! Here are my reasons. There is no one inside the PPP’s leadership or among PPP supporters who can give the PPP the profound analysis it needs about modern civilization and its culture and how they impact on Guyanese sociology.
Three reasons explain this. First, the PPP has never had an ongoing relationship with deep thinkers whether in Guyana or outside.
Secondly, when that did happen, the divorce came quickly because Cheddi Jagan was never happy with independent intellectuals.
From the New World Group to the Ratoon organization to the Movement Against Oppression right down to the WPA, Jagan had access to great intellectuals but he was never comfortable with them. It is outside the scope of this column to describe why Jagan behaved this way.
Thirdly, whatever intellectual quantity the PPP enjoys at the moment, these people tell Freedom House what the PPP leaders want to hear. People like David Dabydeen and others are content to praise the PPP because that is what the party kings want to be told.
The choice of Donald Ramotar as the presidential candidate was inevitable because there was no alternative analysis from any other quarter. And the PPP would not have been disposed to listen to competing assessments. But that selection may have come at the wrong time.
Let’s discuss the factors. Mr. Jagdeo’s super-rich supporters had managed to convince him to seek a third time not only because they were his friends but because they were perceptive. They knew the PPP had to go in the election with someone the Guyanese people knew well, a person that can gel with the masses and who could be seen as having some achievements.
Jagdeo’s supporters knew that Frank Anthony and Robert Persaud were the only two eligible persons because of their age but one unpopular and the other hardly had a track record.
Jagdeo wanted a third term and the Stabroek News got confidential information that the Jagdeo cabal had sought advice from a top regional name who was Guyanese. His identity was never published but the name Ramphal was offered to me by media colleagues.
The Stabroek News ran with their story. Jagdeo lost out in his third term bid. That left only Ramkarran and Ramotar. No one took the attempt by Rohee and Teixeira seriously. Ramkarran is generally disliked by the party’s hierarchy for unforgivable mis-strategies he made since 1992 when he refused to serve in the Cabinet.
Given the nature of the PPP, Ramotar became the man. But there are troubling dimensions to his entry. In a country where charisma must be possessed by a politician especially a society over-flowing with young voters, Mr. Ramotar begins his presidential aspiration with disadvantages.
No one can be that bold to say that Mr. Ramotar is a charismatic personality. Even if one argues that his opponents are not also, I would opine that their deliveries are more persuasive. You can make up for lack of charm by other strengths. I do not see them in Ramotar. He has been in politics for over thirty years but he has never held a high profile public occupation through which his memory remains on the streets and roadways of Guyana. He has not even operated in a realm where he came to be known to the nation as in law (Ramjattan), the military (Granger), sports or medicine, teaching etc.
With no Jagan around, with young people disenchanted, with a track record that is very far from being elegant, the PPP needs to have a candidate that has a background of public debating skills, excellent, rhetorical deliveries, charismatic output and a balance sheet of personal achievements that hang like certificates on the family wall.
My honest opinion is that Ramotar is lacking in these departments. I believe that the PPP knows that it has difficulties selling him to a young electorate. The party has sought a solution in putting Jagdeo in front. Mr. Jagdeo seems to be the face of the PPP’s campaign.
Given this formidable step to climb, one suspects that a Prime Ministerial candidate will be identified that will help with the deficiencies that currently plague the PPP’s campaign.
Another commentator can do a similar analysis for Granger and Ramjattan. And no doubt there will be weaknesses in both men that the commentator will highlight. This is only my opinion when it comes to Ramotar.
But within my logic, I see a greater disadvantage for Ramotar than I do for Granger and Ramjattan. We may be seeing the end of the PPP.

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Can Ramotar bring victory for the PPP?

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