PPP presidential aspirant Moses Nagamootoo is determined not to submit himself to the process the party is using to determine its candidate but remains willing to champion the party’s cause at the general elections due later this year.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, he reiterated his oft-stated position that the process is flawed and that he will not be making any presentation to the party’s 15-member Executive Committee (EC) as has been done by the other four members seeking to be the candidate. Following the presentations by PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar and executives Ralph Ramkarran, Clement Rohee and Gail Teixeira, a recommendation is to be made to the 35-member Central Committee (CC) on who should be the candidate.
“I refuse to make a presentation to that body,” Nagamootoo stated, dubbing it an “inappropriate body.” He added that he will withdraw his interest should the EC go ahead and identify a candidate. “That will be a fraudulent decision,” he said.
Nagamootoo, himself a CC member, has been calling for a more inclusive selection system for almost a year now and in an interview with this newspaper in March last year stated that he would withdraw should that not be done.
“ … I would withdraw from any process that is not fair and in which the membership of the party … [is] not included in the broadest possible consultation,” he had said then. The PPP later issued a statement saying that it would use its traditional process, which would see a candidate being put forward by the EC to the larger CC.
When queried on whether he would consider withdrawing now since the party has shown no sign of changing the process, Nagamootoo said “the answer is not within me.
“I maintain that I am qualified and offer myself as presidential candidate,” he said, while adding that he still enjoys widespread support among the Guyanese people.
When contacted yesterday, Ramotar confirmed that the other candidates had all made their submissions and added that Nagamootoo would have a chance to state his case before the CC for a wider consultation.
Nagamootoo is on record as saying that the selection of the candidate should involve all the party’s membership, noting that the current procedure is outdated. He has been advocating for a system to be put in place where potential candidates could declare their interest and their availability and submit data that could be circulated to the party members. He also said that if he did not receive the party’s nod he would support another candidate, once the selection was done in an open and democratic manner.
