Rohee among 17 PPP MPs attending People of Indian Origin Forum

Jan 09, 2018 News

…Will miss special Parliament sitting for opposition business

: In India: PPP MPs, Irfaan Ali (left) Nigel Dharamlall

Seventeen People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) Members of Parliament are among a delegation of 25 elected officials from Guyana who are attending the People of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentary Conference in New Delhi, India today.

This means that the PPP will field fewer than half of its parliamentary membership of 32 at Wednesday’s sitting of the National Assembly which has been specially set aside to address matters from the Opposition.

Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, said that the sitting of the National Assembly must go on.

“We have lots of work to do. The work must go on,” said Teixeira.

Among the Guyana delegation are three MPs from the Coalition Government and three mayors. The trip is being funded by the Indian Government. Officials at Parliament indicated yesterday that they have not been officially informed of the absence of the MPs.

According to Indian officials, the PPP delegation is led by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo; and includes Clement Rohee, Irfaan Ali, Anil Nandlall, Dr. Frank Anthony, Dharamkumar Seeraj, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Indranie Chandarpal, Collin Croal, Bheri S. Ramsarran, Zulfikar Mustapha, Ganga Persaud, Neendkumar, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, Nigel Dharamlall, Bhagmattie Veerasammy and Vickram Bharrat.

Some of the PPP MPs have taken to social media to share their experiences in India.

The coalition members are Rajcoomarie Bancroft, Charrandass Persaud and Haimraj Rajkumar, Corriverton’s Mayor, Krishnand Jaichand, is in attendance along with Anna Regina’s Mayor, Rabindranauth Mohan, and Vijay Ramoo, the Mayor of Rose Hall.

Reports from India are that Guyana is fielding the largest delegation to the conference. In contrast, the United States delegation features only two mayors and no MPs as the Senate is in session.

Only sitting MPs and Mayors have been invited; no ministers and heads of state.

A total of 141 public representatives from various countries are participating in the conference.

Some 124 MPs from the UK, Canada, Fiji, Kenya, Mauritius, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and other countries are slated to take part.

The Indian Government believes the one-day interaction with help to establish a network with leaders of Indian origin in various countries, and get a feedback on the direction in which Indian engagement with the Diaspora should proceed.

The event will be conducted in two working sessions on PIO Parliamentarians the story of the journey to parliament, and Resurgent India, the role of PIO Parliamentarians.

The frequency of the conference has not been decided yet and will be decided on the basis of the response from the first meeting.