I never used the verb ‘declined’

Aug 09, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – I read with great interest Ralph Ramkarran’s recent ‘Conversation Tree’ article headlined ‘I never declined’ published in the Sunday, August 7, 2022 edition of Stabroek News. I was compelled to pay attention to what was attributed to me for more than a couple of minutes in order to ponder authorship, authority and authenticity.

I am glad that Mr. Ramkarran expressed his views publicly on the matter. By opening the door, he rejected a view held by some, that key decisions made by the leadership of the PPP under the Jagans were not arrived at as a result of democratically held lengthy and robust debates.

Mr. Ramkarran’s account also served as a reminder of the difficulties inherent in the plurality of friends and the qualitative and quantitative problem of friendship and camaraderie. Tangentially, we were reminded of Aristotle’s saying about friendship; ‘O friends, there are no friends.’

Reliance on memorabilia and our individual ‘contemporaneous records’ of particular events, are likely to evoke more than one account of what actually took place. It is in that context, that I welcome Mr. Ramkarran’s viewpoint since it inheres the healthy practice of public education for the sake of clarification with a view to carrying the discussion forward.

Suffice it to say in the conversation during the Freddie Kissoon-Gildarie Show aired on July 25, 2022, I never did use the verb ‘declined’ in the present nor past tense as the raison d’etre for Mr. Ramkarran’s discontinuation of the selection process for the party’s presidential candidate for the 1997 election.

To be more precise, what I did say in the conversation during the show aired on July 25, 2022 was: “Ralph said he was no longer interested.”

I have to concede that Ramkarran never said he was ‘no longer interested’ (was indifferent or unconcerned) nor did he ‘decline’ (refused to accept) the nomination to be the Party’s presidential candidate.

Mr. Ramkarran said he did not decline the nomination. That he accepted, but his proposal to deal with his temporary circumstances was rejected.

In my autobiography ‘My Story, My Song’ I wrote: ‘His proposal did not go down well with a few members of the Executive Committee. He asked to be given time to reconsider his position. Mr. Ramkarran subsequently advised that he stood by his position because of family commitments which he was unprepared to surrender at the time.’ (Ibid pp331)

I went to say: ‘Efforts were made, but to no avail to encourage Mr. Ramkarran to return to the meetings of the Executive committee and to agree to hold a position in the cabinet.

After several hours of debate on numerous suggestions about who should fill the number three position in the ‘A Team’ and with Ralph Ramkarran out of the picture, the meeting unanimously agreed that Bharrat Jagdeo be named as the Number Three. Jagdeo agreed.’(Ibid pp 332).

While I appreciate Mr. Ramkarran’s account of the events, I wish to plant a flag and to stand by what I wrote in my autobiography where I sought to curate my understanding of the events more tightly in contrast to the loose manner in which I defined his position. In that sense, one can see how problematic the quote being discussed is.

Clement Rohee

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