Nigel Dharamlall - the PPP knew better

Nigel Dharamlall – the PPP knew better

May 18, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The PPP knows better but feels that it can shrug off whatever is directed at party leaders, and the party itself, when matters take a turn for the worse. There is no way that the PPP could not have anticipated the reaction of Guyanese with the election of former minister Nigel Dharamlall to the party’s highest decision-making council, the 15-member Central Executive Committee. The reaction has been negative, and the party’s leadership should have foreseen that coming. Though there was a period of relative quiet after the belated resignation of Dharamlall, some tenseness prevailed about who else could be coming out, to share their ordeal with Dharamlall identified as the alleged perpetrator. We do not think that the developments involving Dharamlall at the PPP Congress was a consequence of negligence, but another manifestation of arrogance by a group that believes it is unstoppable, and answerable to no one. Now there is another shocking development, and Dharamlall’s name is called.

A new smoking gun has been placed in the public domain, with allegations pointing to Dharamlall. The former minister and, once again, PPP Central Executive member (however that was engineered by whomever), is not just in the news with allegations of heinous misconduct heaped on his head, he is the news. The PPP and its head, General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo are too politically seasoned to leave any stone unturned that could expose the party like this. However, we wish to make something clear: there is no pronouncement by this paper about the guilt or innocence of Central Executive member Dharamlall. Unbiased, untainted professionals in law enforcement and the legal machinery of the State have that duty; will come to one or the other of those places.

What is mystifying is that the PPP, and nobody as well as Jagdeo, is highly sensitive to any person, development, word that leaves it in a less than positive light. Yet what came out of the Congress with the election of Dharamlall to the Central Executive has the overpowering odor of a fix. It was tantamount to the party throwing caution to the winds, in the firm belief that whatever anyone says or does, it didn’t matter. The party did this, and the party will live with it. There is no disagreement that the inner workings of the PPP are the party’s business. But there had to be some subset in the PPP, no matter how small, that had to worry about possible troubling developments in the future, if Nigel Dharamlall’s name is so intimately associated with the party’s most senior council. Whether he was voted to his coveted spot or installed is a moot point at this time, considering what has since unfolded. But there was the opportunity in the run-up to Congress, and during the Congress itself, for someone with enough rank, to pull him aside, and tell him that it is not a good idea to have his name in the hat. In our thinking that somebody with Dharamlall’s lightning rod nature should not have been part of the nominations for even the larger 35-member Central Committee of the PPP. By not being smart, the PPP now looks reckless and stupid, which it is not, especially relative to the latter.

Once again, it is that familiar story involving, as alleged, Dharamlall and young women. This time around, the accuser is not some obscure and helpless young girl from a remote location, with few resources at her call. From what we have gathered, the accuser of Dharamlall is a US citizen, comes from a well-grounded family setting, and is a young student of considerable renown in the region. As a secondary point, it would be interesting to observe the position of the American Consulate, given that one of its charges has come forward with claims of sexual abuse. Would standing behind the ruling party at all costs because of its subservience to ExxonMobil rule the day? Another young woman has stepped forward and Dharamlall finds himself in a hole again. The PPP held onto him, now it would be interesting to follow how it bends circumstances to save its reputation, achieve its objectives to protect Dharamlall by any maneuver necessary, using anybody available.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Central Executive Committee, former, Nigel Dharamlall, PPP congress, seasoned

Latest News