Will this affect the coalition?

Aug 12, 2015 Editorial

The abrupt resignation of Dr. Veerasammy Ramayya from the AFC was certainly a talking point as the working week began, even though it was overshadowed by the budget speech.
It obviously took the leaders and members of the AFC, and by extension the coalition, by surprise. By mid-morning on the following day, public opinion (no doubt formed after reading his complaints) had generally turned against those whom they perceived had mistreated or turned their backs on the former Member of Parliament.
Dr. Ramayya is/was considered the political czar for the AFC in Berbice, therefore core supporters are expressing that every effort should have been made and every option explored to keep such a valuable asset in the party.
Questions are already being raised about the future of the AFC, especially in Berbice, which is its stronghold. It is, after all, a hectic post-election season and the newly elected coalition government needs all hands on deck.
So in essence, Dr. Ramayya’s resignation is a serious blow not only to the AFC but to the entire coalition, which now needs to guard against the perception that it might be unravelling at the seams, which could put an irreparable dent in the people’s confidence in its strength and unity concept.
Dr. Ramayya and his team in Berbice essentially broke the back of the PPP in the 2011 general election that led to a minority government. This in reflection was the defining moment for the AFC against the PPP which had held power for 23 years before its defeat in the last election.
The departure of the PPP from office was touted in many circles as being the beginning of the restoration of good and transparent governance, integrity and decency in the country. It has, some say, brought hope to the hopeless.
However, the fact that there has been no widespread condemnation from the outside or urgent reaction from within to the resignation is intriguing. Even within the media where he is a household name in Berbice, it is instructive that Dr. Ramayya’s resignation has not been greeted with any degree of suspicion.
Particularly given the fact that he is quoted as expressing his displeasure at what was offered him in relation to what he had done for the party. There were also assertions by Dr. Ramayya that many persons who had toiled tirelessly were not duly recognised in any tangible form, despite his bringing it to the attention of his colleagues in the coalition. He also suggested that Berbicians were being sidelined at the expense of their fellow party members in the city. An interesting assessment indeed.
In the long run, the AFC must consider whether or not it can bear the loss of such a key figure. Can it minimize whatever fallout that may come its way? That particular development should be a wake-up call for the AFC, as it was for the PPP when three of its stalwart members Khemraj Ramjattan, now the Minister of Public Security, Moses Nagamootoo, now the Prime Minister, and Ralph Ramkarran, were forced to leave the party because of the vindictive policies of Jagdeo.
It was a grave mistake on his part to even think that he could have operated like in the 1960s when the PPP forced senior members out without major consequences. Well, those days are obviously gone.
Integrity and decency cannot be compromised; they are the lifeblood of public trust. For this reason, the AFC should have taken much more pains to prevent the resignation of Dr. Ramayya. Maybe there will be some form of reconciliation, but even if there is, it’s clear that things are not so rosy among the hardcore supporters.
It is unimaginable to many observers that the AFC would leave the public to speculate about the motives. For those who had missed it, the signs were not clear. That too is strange. Has everyone been that busy? Does the future of the AFC now hang in the balance? Will this in any way affect the coalition?

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