Presidential advisor and MP Gail Teixeira yesterday said that she is ready to be scrutinised by the leadership of the PPP as the party decides on its presidential candidate, while calling for hopefuls to act with decorum.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) announced yesterday that Teixeira is in the running, alongside Moses Nagamootoo, Ralph Ramkarran, Donald Ramotar and Clement Rohee, who have either been nominated or have expressed an interest.
The Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), which is the women’s arm of the party, nominated Teixeira along with party stalwart Indra Chandarpal, but the latter declined the nomination. “I accepted the nomination… I expect that we will all behave in a disciplined manner and with decorum as the party considers the nominees,” Teixeira told Stabroek News yesterday during an interview.
She observed that those in the presidential race have been “my comrades” for many years, while noting that her chances for the nomination rest with the leadership of the party.
Teixeira enters the PPP race amid public disagreements among party members, including claims of state-sponsored endorsement of one candidate—a situation she is well aware of. She declared yesterday that now is not the time for displays of testosterone but for wise debate and agreements on how to move forward.
Teixeira believes that the 2011 elections is a critical one for Guyana. She said that 18 years after the PPP/C government was able to “lift the country from hopelessness and despair,” the agenda must be to unify and build trust among the citizenry. Government has created a path for development which must be followed by whoever is elected, she noted, while adding that the advancement of this country is what matters, in addition to bringing people together. She said too that a foundation is already in place and it is for the new leader to focus on development.
The issues which Teixeira sees as important as she prepares to be examined by the party executives are nation building and people’s involvement in the political process at the community level as well as the parliamentary level. She said that this country is home to people of tremendous spirit and strength who are willing to work together.
“I’ve experienced alliances at all levels and I know that people here are interested in building this country, which is why the issues of building trust and confidence among people, in addition to mobilising them for advancing a developmental agenda are important to me,” Teixeira said.
Non-issue
When asked about the issue of a secret ballot in selecting the next PPP presidential candidate, Teixeira referred to it as “a non-issue.” She explained that at a recent meeting the party left the door open on the issue. For her, that means it is not an issue.
Presidential candidate contender Ramkarran has been adamant that secret balloting has been part of the PPP’s tradition in cases where there is more than one candidate for party offices and he has repeatedly called for this to be honoured in the event there is no unanimous selection. President Bharrat Jagdeo, however, recently warned that using a secret balloting process to decide on the candidate could be dangerous as hopefuls could promise persons things in order to get their votes. He said while it will be up to the party to make the decision on secret balloting, he would openly indicate his choice. His comments, however, attracted criticism by some long-standing members of the party leadership, with Executive Navin Chandarpal saying they were an insult to the large majority of the PPP’s Central Committee. Chandarpal has said that if there is no unanimous choice, then a secret ballot would be the method used to determine the candidate. He said a voter has the right—“not a privilege but a right”—to secrecy.
Teixeira views the concerns being raised about the process as undue because the issue is still to be addressed. The party will deal with it subsequently, according to her. However, the manner in which the disagreement is being aired has troubled her. “This is not the time for displays of testosterone,” she reiterated. She noted that members can agree to disagree while behaving with decorum.
Teixeira emphasised that the PPP, using the collective wisdom of its leadership, has always found consensus on the way forward. She said that this collective wisdom will also prevail in 2011 as the party decides on the issue of secret ballots and a presidential candidate, among other things.
Meanwhile, Teixeira said also that her party had already showed its support for women leaders when the late President Janet Jagan was nominated as the presidential candidate. Many years later, she believes that the PPP as well as citizens are more willing now to support a woman leader.
But things have always changed globally, she said, pointing out that woman leaders are emerging in many countries across the world. “Women are breaking the glass ceilings, but while this is important, for me gender is not as critical as whether the person is qualified to lead the country,” she added.
Previously, Teixeira had said in an earlier interview that the nomination of a female would be based on internal party policies and or largely up to “political parties.” She had opined that Guyanese voters are likely to embrace any candidate who brings something “additional” to a presidential race. The main issue is what a particular candidate stands for, she said then, adding that one has to be careful not to “gender-ise the issue very much.”
Teixeira said that she has no intentions to kick off any campaign for the nomination, but that she is ready to be examined by the leadership “to see if I am a fit candidate to lead.”
Teixeira has had long service in the PPP and remigrated from Canada to serve as late President Cheddi Jagan’s secretary during the opposition years. She later functioned as Secretary of the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy, which had been established among opposition parties in the run-up to the historic 1992 general elections.
She has been involved in active politics since age 19 and has been a member of the PPP since 1977. Upon the accession of the PPP/C to office, she became Minister of Health and later served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport and Minister of Home Affairs. She also acted in the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. She has served for several years now as the presidential advisor on governance.
