Comparing De Donald Trump and De Donald Ramotar

Oct 04, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

There are two funny politicians in the world with the first name, Donald. There is the American Trump and the Guyanese Ramotar. Is there an available methodology which one can use to make a comparison? The answer is no. They have absolutely nothing in common. First, the Guyanese De Donald made it to the presidency. The American De Donald is yet to do that. As we continue, there seems to be not even a tiny area that exists that we could see a similarity.
Trump is a self-made man brimming with self-confidence and is more than willing to display his self-assurance in any arena. One of Ramotar’s tragic failures was that he never embodied self-confidence and self-assurance. Make no mistake about it; it is open to debate if the PPP would have lost the majority in 2015 if the PPP had a more assertive, charismatic leader whose politics was characterized by leadership qualities.
Ramotar lost in 2011 and 2015 because he was never perceived to be presidential material. In this context, it would appear that Trump and Ramotar do have something in common. But the appearance is poignantly deceptive.
Influential people in the US believe and have said that Trump is unfit to be president. But Trump has what Ramotar never had. There is an impressive list of powerful and rich people in the US that back Trump. Ramotar never had a serious percentage of support in all the corners of Guyana for the presidential candidacy in 2011.
If it wasn’t for the totalitarian instincts of Bharrat Jagdeo that resulted in his imposition of Ramotar on the PPP, four contenders would have outclassed Ramotar is a free vote for the PPP’s presidential slot in 2011; Ralph Ramkarran probably would have received far more votes than Ramotar.
Trump is not afraid to speak his mind. Trump is not afraid to make descriptions of others. He feels that is what politics is about. Now you may not like his descriptions but you have to admit he embodies the courage to say how he feels. Ramotar all his life lived in the shadow of other PPP apparatchiks. As one of the many teenagers that Cheddi Jagan chaperoned at the beginning of the seventies, Ramotar was entrusted with important portfolios but could not rise to the occasion.
Every one of his contemporaries who started out at Freedom House with him was elevated by the PPP after the PPP came to power in 1992 but there was never any place for Ramotar. Feroze Mohamed became Home Affairs Minister, Kellawan Lall became presidential advisor; Rohee who went with Ramotar to Czechoslovakia for eight years became Foreign Minister; Gail Teixeira became Health Minister; Shree Chand became Trade Minister; Navin Chandarpal became science advisor, Indra Chanderpaul became Deputy Housing Minister.
Interestingly, Ramotar who studied economics at UG and who was a student in my philosophy class couldn’t even make the Deputy Finance Minister. It was given to Jagdeo. Jagdeo eventually replaced Asgar Ally as Finance Minister. Ramotar had the same status inside the hierarchy of the PPP from the eighties onwards with a majority of the names listed here. But he was never elated until Jagdeo used him in a deadly game of gambit against Ralph Ramkarran. Both Jagans (Cheddi and Janet) ruled the PPP with an iron fist and they knew the character and personality of every senior activist. Both Jagans knew `that Ramotar never showed political astuteness and leadership qualities.
The favourite of both Jagans was Kellawan Lall, then Feroze Mohamed. Janet proteged Rohee and Teixeira. Shree Chand worked at the Mirror newspaper with Janet Jagan and she really liked him. Cheddi and Janet Jagan wanted to push Indra Chandarpal. Cheddi reserved a special place for Roger Luncheon. Ramotar never showed up on the radar of the Jagans.
One of the reasons the Jagans had deep reservation about Ramotar was because when he was assigned to the leadership of GAWU, his time there was unmemorable. Sugar workers were not impressed.
So there is really no material the researchers can use to compare De Donald of the US and De Donald of Guyana. But I strongly suspect that there is a hidden dimension which one can use to make just one, I repeat, ONE comparison. When that is done, a huge similarity emerges.
Both the American De Donald and the Guyanese De Donald could be shown compelling evidence where they said or did something. And both would watch the media with eyes wide open and deny it. De Donald in Guyana spent a lifetime on GUYSUCO Board yet refuses to accept responsibility for GUYSUCO’s semi-dead status.

1 thoughts on “Comparing De Donald Trump and De Donald Ramotar”

casada11 October 4, 2016 at 9:24 pm

Many a times writers may find themselves being very erroneous when making statements regarding subjects that they have very little first hand information or knowledge about especially, when that subjects has to do with political personalities of a foreign country, the best first hand information is physical presence and to feel what the people feel particularly in vast constituencies such as a country with half a century states. So beware of plagiarizing opinions and sentiments of popular personalities and regarding views of a few people from a couple of states as a summery, that obviously cannot reflect the true picture of an entire nation.