An open confrontation would now appear to have broken out between the outgoing President and some of the would-be Presidents and their supporters over who should take the candidature. The PPP, of course, must fancy itself to be returned to office so that it sees the race for the candidature as, in effect, a race for the presidency itself. That is why the process is unfolding with a far greater intensity and in-fighting than the process inside the PNCR where whoever gets the nod would be under no illusion about the other mountain that he or she would have to climb if the incumbents are to be unseated.
President Jagdeo may have laid to rest the rumours and charges that he had been looking for ways to run again but his recent remarks about how the PPP’s candidate should be chosen and the likelihood that any other method would lead to an unseemly intra-party vote-buying spree suggests that he retains a strong interest in the process. His remarks, in the opinion of Navin Chandarpal whom he ousted from his Science Advisor post some time ago, are an insult to the leadership of the party. On the other hand, Moses Nagamootoo, who simply refuses to go away fears – and he says so – that the resources of the state are being placed behind a particular candidate. And who else but the President has the authority to place those resources where he chooses.
The focus inside the PPP, at least as far as the public is concerned is with who leads that Party into the general elections. Perhaps an equally important issue is exactly what reposes in the outcome of the race for the presidency for President Jagdeo himself who, just recently, in responding to questions about his current real estate pursuits made it clear that he intends, in his capacity as ex-President to operate from Guyana. The PPP’s pre-election plot is thickening like a good old-fashioned calaloo soup.
