No infighting within the PPP - Rohee

No infighting within the PPP – Rohee

May 10, 2016 News

-plays down 2020 presidential run
Describing them as “new and old juicy inaccuracies”, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee

Rohee, yesterday sought to debunk reports of infighting within the party. He also played down speculation that he is considering a presidential run in 2020.
According to Rohee, at the party’s weekly press conference, such stories are not new but the party is one that remains strong and (one that) encourages healthy debate within its ranks on a wide range of issues.
Commenting on an article entitled ‘PPP executives jockeying for top position’ in the May 9, 2016 edition of Stabroek News, Rohee made it clear that the paper is entitled to its own opinion but not to its own facts.
“If this is what the Stabroek News interprets as ‘in-fighting’ then, they can’t be helped since they chose to stay in their own echo chamber believing they have latched onto something when in fact, it is sheer gossip, conjecture and rumour,” Rohee said.
“The armchair PPP watchers who, from their cozy offices, pontificate and hatch conspiracy theories, have been and will always hang around to churn out what they believe is fact, when in reality, they are mere opinions expressed inside their own bubbles.”
He stated that when the Party Congress is convened, it is guided by the Constitution of the PPP in convening or postponing Congress. He stated that Central Committee Members are free to express their views on matters up for discussion, but at the end of the debate the majority view prevails.
“The Party will view each challenge as an opportunity to strengthen itself and to improve its methods of work

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

among the masses utilizing its cadres and outstanding leaders from top to bottom, to achieve its objectives to the benefit of the Guyanese working people.”
Asked on several occasions whether he does not want to run for President in 2020, Rohee refused to confirm or deny. He would only repeat that, he would stick to his initial statement.
Chief Justice, Ian Chang, had cleared the way for former President Bharrat Jagdeo, to run for President. Chang’s July 2015 High Court ruling had deemed presidential term limits to be unconstitutional.
Rohee is a PPP stalwart who has been in the party even longer than Jagdeo. He is also a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and of Home Affairs. However, Rohee has taken a back seat to Jagdeo, who served as President from 1999 to 2011, despite past attempts to secure the presidential nomination.
When former President Donald Ramotar received the nomination in 2011, Rohee became the party’s General Secretary. After the PPP was voted from office in 2015, Jagdeo returned to become the Leader of the Opposition.
Despite this, the General Secretary has consistently thrown his support behind the former President. He has also downplayed speculation about infighting within the party.