MPs List signals transition to younger leadership – PPP

Jagdeo confirmed as Opposition Leader

Although left off of the Party’s List of Members of Parliament (MPs), Central Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Donald Ramotar, who ran for another term as President of Guyana, has pledged his support for those who will be going to Parliament.

Ramotar, in explaining why he did not appear on the MPs’ List, stated that it was time for the PPP/C to allow the younger generation to take charge and lead. “…why am I not in Parliament? I would like to answer that question straight away to say that my personal view is that the Party should go into transition at this point in time and to transition to younger leaders to take us to future successes in the Party,” he noted.

He added that the leadership of the Party was engaged in extensive discussions and finally agreed that former President Bharrat Jagdeo should return at the helm of the PPP/C as the Leader of the Opposition. Ramotar clarified that the MPs were not arrived at via a voting process, but rather through extensive discussions which led to a consensus.

Ramotar and Harper

Given that Ramotar and Elisabeth Harper were its Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates, the PPP/C is now faced with the reality that many may feel slighted that these two individuals will not be in Parliament to represent their constituency. When presented with this scenario, Ramotar explained that the drastic change in Guyana’s political atmosphere effected the decision to leave himself and Harper out of the parliamentary chambers.

“The whole situation in our country has changed tremendously; of course, we went into the elections with the expectations of winning the elections, we did win the elections, as I said before, we are convinced that it was stolen from us, so that changed the political situation quite a lot,” he said.

Ramotar added, “I think our supporters voted for the list and that they may very well understand the situation at hand.”

Although he will not be representing the Party at the parliamentary level, Ramotar affirmed that he would remain within the leadership of the Party and would continue to represent and fight for the rights of all Guyanese.

“I am not going anywhere; I will not stop representing the people of this country. I am here and I will continue to struggle on their behalf,” he assured.

Further, Ramotar said he would not be seeking to re-enter office in the capacity of Head of State unless something “really dramatic” occurred and his colleagues required him to return.

For Harper’s part, she had indicated to Guyana Times International her desire to stay out of the political scene for now.

Controversial figures

Appearing on the Party’s List of MPs are several controversial figures, whom some sections of society blamed for the failure of the Party at the recently-concluded elections.

A few of those include former Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran who made headlines and was even relieved of his ministerial duties after he verbally assaulted social activist Sherlina Nageer; Dr Westford whose former ministry is currently being investigated for transfer of vehicle; and Anil Nandlall whose name was stained after a controversial conversation between him and a Kaieteur News reporter was leaked and went viral.

Ramotar admitted that there were heated deliberations concerning the appointment of certain individuals as MPs; however, in the end, a final decision had to be made by the Party regardless of individual views.

“In a political party like ours, there will be a lot of discussions, debates and disagreements, but, in the final analysis, when we come to a decision, that’s it, it’s the final decision.

There were people in our Party who were probably not in favour of every single person on the list … it would be totally unnatural if everybody were to agree on everyone there, but in the end that is the final decision of the Party and these are the people they want to take to Parliament and I will do my best to support them,” he said, noting that it was irrelevant to disclose whether or not he agreed with the individuals on the list.

He also indicated that if the need arose for changes to be made among the parliamentary representatives, the PPP/C would be capable of doing so.

Ramsammy out

The PPP/C had revealed its list of MPs on Monday evening which indicated that former Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy would be returning to Parliament. However, due to his ill health, Ramsammy will no longer be participating and, therefore, the PPP/C will have to find a replacement.

Moreover, other individuals who appeared on the PPP/C List of Candidates, including former Minister Robert Persaud, Dr Ashni Singh, Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul, Robeson Benn and Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett have already indicated, in some way, their reason for not returning.

Ramotar maintained that the Party has no issues with those who were left out, noting that he was sure the PPP/C will have other important tasks for them.