Dear Editor,
I refer to Mr Ralph Ramkarran’s letter captioned “I had previously corrected Mr Kissoon’s erroneous statements” (07.10.07).
In my letter on Mr Ramkarran’s presidential ineligibility, the editor removed the paragraph that informed readers that the apology that Kaieteur News offered to Mr Ramkarran for what was contained in one of my publications was written by Ramkarran himself.
Mr. Ramkarran stated in his letter that he drafted the apology. It is highly unusual that a newspaper would print a retraction written by the person who wants to sue. The standard practice is that the litigant’s lawyers would examine the wording of the statement. Mr. Ramjattan did not see the composition of Mr. Ramkarran that the Kaieteur News carried.
Now that he has informed the public that he drafted the apology, I request that he explain to readers why he included in the apology the statement that “no such meeting occurred.” The PPP had a statutory meeting of its executive committee in the third week of November 1999. One of the items on the agenda was a letter tendered by then Minister of Health, Henry Jeffrey lamenting that on a GIS programme on GTV, hosted by me, he was hurt by a comment from a caller that wanted a cabinet reshuffle that would move Dr. Jeffrey from Health.
The voices there agreed to terminate my consultancy with Minister Nagamootoo, then in charge of the Ministry of Information. Mr. Ramkarran claimed he was not in attendance. Fine! The Kaieteur News placed him at that event and he threatened to sue. He demanded an apology which he drafted himself and which was carried unedited. But who gave Mr. Ramkarran the right to include in his composition, the denial of a meeting that actually occurred and which Mr Nagamootoo attended? To this day, Mr Nagamootoo has refused to write a letter in the press acknowledging that such a conference was held. I find Mr Nagamootoo’s inflexible refusal to do the decent thing appalling.
Is it not strange that Mr Ramkarran avoided dealing with my call for him to join Janet Jagan and distance himself, as a key PPP figure in the withdrawal of advertisements from the Kaieteur News? Mr. Ramkarran at least did not deny his uneasy relationship in the past with the media. He got a libel compromise from Kaieteur and as he reminded us, he asked Father Morrison for an apology from the Catholic Standard over an item it carried on his attitude to the 1980 Constitution. I stick to my perception of Mr. Ramkarran as one of the PPP players that is uneasy with a probing press. I would go so far as to say that of all PPP leaders, he is the only one that displays more impatience with the media.
On his opinion of the 1980 Constitution, it would have been nice if Mr. Ramkarran could have briefly stated what his interpretation was when he spoke at the Hotel Tower. Vincent Alexander was there. I heard Mr. Alexander made reference to Mr. Ramkarran’s position on the 1980 Constitution on one of the Spotlight programmes on channel 9. I will ask Mr. Alexander to summarise for me what Mr. Ramkarran told the audience since he, Mr. Alexander seems to have remembered the remarks.
I am sure readers are waiting for the rest of Mr Ramkarran’s input that his Sunday missive failed to carry. The most manifest omission is the explanation on why he has not taken up a cabinet appointment since 1992 with the Government, acquiring the label as the only executive member of the PPP since 1992 not to have served as a minister. There is also the careful avoidance of the question of contesting the presidential slot in 2011. I am doing my research on Mr Ramkarran and if and when he announces his presidential intention, I will ask him more questions including his record as chairman of the collapsed Guyana Airways Corporation.
I will request from him information on the legal firms that gets Government’s legal business and what percentage of the contracts Cameron and Shepherd enjoys. Mr Ramkarran is a public figure and he should expect to face questions from the media as to his past and present roles.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
