Dear Editor,
In a letter to SN dated August 15, 2008 captioned ‘Mr Ramkarran has performed valuable service to the PPP and the country since 1992,’ the writer outlined the good work of this presidential candidate.
Now it seems that Mr Ramkarran is upset at the votes he received at congress. Let me first say that his contribution to the struggle against the Burnham dictatorship and generally his role in the PPP can never reach the heights of the contribution by Mr Moses Nagamootoo. What has been and is the position of Mr Ramkarran with regards to what the PPP Executive and Central Committees did to Moses? Does Mr Ramkarran recognize that others who were very strong and loyal activists of the PPP were marginalized by the party and that there is a continuing negative campaign against them?
Does he recall what happened to Mr Fazel Khan when he was General Manager of GAC and Mr Ramkarran was the Chairman of the Board? This gentleman was a strong, loyal and committed member of the party. He had two degrees and was a very able captain. He in the past was an active trade unionist being a member of the CCWU. This loyal and committed member of the party brought 36th place at the congress elections. Using some arguments about geographical balancing the CC voted for someone else to be brought into the CC to fill a vacancy that occurred. The person was living in Corentyne, Berbice and the Corentyne already had one CC member, Mr Rohit Persaud. This member was given the opportunity to chair the county conferences, to be the chairman of commissions at congress and yet he obtained fewer votes than Mr Fazal Khan.
Later when a comrade-in-arms was in 37th place and two vacancies occurred, the CC elected the persons who came 36th and 37th.
There were others also who went into the leadership at the expense of some.
Upward mobility has to have some logic. If persons within the party or even persons out of the party are selected for reasons such as family and friendships, for example, then they may supersede others who might have been more deserving.
It is time the presidential hopefuls face the nation and tell us who they are and what they stand for and how they would make a difference if they were selected, as opposed to hiding behind the skirt of the party. The exclusion of Moses not simply because he had a lot of votes but because of his maturity questions the democratic credentials of sections of the PPP leadership.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
