PPP’s biggest mistake was electing Jagdeo as Opposition leader

Jul 06, 2015 News

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– seals party’s fate in opposition for decades to come, says Ralph Ramkaran

The Central Committee of the People Progressive Party’s nomination of former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo as its Opposition Leader in the Eleventh Parliament is about the worst move the Party could have made at such a critical time in its life.

This is the view of former party stalwart and Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran, who predicts that this move will seal that PPP’s fate in opposition for decades to come, “unless the APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity  and Alliance For Change) coalition underperforms or unravels.”
Ramkarran made this commentary in his most recent column published on his website, conversationtree.gy.
The veteran politician stated that the PPP has been shattered by defeat, “its leadership disgraced by corruption and it has lost the sympathy of the international community through abuse, corruption and the refusal to hold local government elections.”
He said that with no intention by the clique of giving up power, the return of its younger MPs and a sprinkling of new faces to Parliament would be mere window dressing as the new generation of leaders stands no chance of influencing policy to rebuild the PPP or unite the country.
Ramkarran pointed to the recently expressed views by Dr. Vindhi Persaud as to the way forward for the PPP in her recently published email and its rejection as proof of the “impotence that this group will face.”
He said that Jagdeo’s name emerged initially from among the ruling clique in the Executive Committee.
According to Ramkarran, in the contest between Jagdeo and former President Donald Ramotar at the Central Committee, Ramotar received only nine votes of 35 voting members.
He said this must have been a great embarrassment to Ramotar to be fought down by his mentor, at whose instance he became the Presidential candidate in 2011.
“Worse was the virtual abandonment of him by the Central Committee of which he was General Secretary for 15 years. Mr. Ramotar ignored the fact that Dr. Jagdeo’s insatiable ego cannot be satisfied by fraternal considerations or rational calculations. In any event, Mr. Ramotar apparently did not realize that with the loss of two elections and Dr. Jagdeo’s grip on the leadership, his political career was over,” said Ramkarran.
The veteran politician added that Ramotar long ago ceded authority to Jagdeo and “therefore has no one but himself to blame for his loss of influence in the Central Committee.”
Ramkarran said that Ramotar may accept the “humiliation of rejection” and soldier on with diminished influence, likely without a Parliamentary seat, as he would have to bear the embarrassment of an immediate past president sitting at third place behind Jagdeo and General Secretary Clement Rohee.
Ramkarran predicts that Ramotar would seek to justify continued low-level activism by deluding himself that he is maintaining party unity.
“This has always been the answer to his failure to respond to Dr. Jagdeo’s most egregious behavior. This silent approbation allowed serious schisms to arise within the Party, which remained unaddressed. The worst was the resignations of Ramjattan and Nagamootoo that led directly to the PPP’s loss of power,” said Ramkarran.
The former PP stalwart said that in his early fifties, Jagdeo will retain his hold on the leadership for at least the next 20 years, while still trying to secure a third term. Ramkarran said, “It means that an entire generation of younger leaders will have no chance of aspiring to leadership or influencing the party’s direction.”
Further, the former House speaker said Jagdeo’s continued grip on power and greed for the limelight will smother younger leaders and denude the PPP of talent, leaving it with sycophants and as an ineffective opposition force. “Eventually, he will again choose the next leader.”
Ramkarran said that by electing Jagdeo, the Central Committee seems prepared to abide by his methods of abuse, control and sycophancy.
“He will also try to convince supporters that they were robbed thereby perpetuating a sense of victimhood. This will ensure the persistence of the national ethnic contest. Exploited so effectively in the campaign, the PPP no doubt now sees as the strategy of choice.”
He added that the PPP has made, arguably, the most egregious blunder in its entire history by failing to implement Cheddi Jagan’s ‘shared governance’ or ‘winner does not take all’ policies in political conditions in 2011 where it could have been easily sold to its supporters.
“The PPP would have had to make fundamental concessions and share power in circumstances of equality where it would not ‘dominate or be dominated’ – a policy also advocated by Jagan. The national unity thereby created would have transformed Guyana and revolutionized our politics. Our nation would once again have been able to aspire to 1950 and bring within reach our motto of ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny.’ But President Ramotar had made it plain in 2011 that power sharing ‘would not happen.’ The ruling clique of the PPP has deliberately killed the dream of unity and is on its way to Parliament to bury it,” said Ramkarran.

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