Dear Editor,
At the Impress Youth Conference, President Jagdeo reportedly listed some attributes of Donald Ramotar that made him presidential material. Now, I know it can’t be easy selling Mr Ramotar as President. Imagine a meeting of Mr Ramotar and President Obama and you get the point. President Jagdeo said Mr Ramotar is a freedom fighter. I grant Mr Ramotar that. He did fight in the trenches against the PNC. So did Khemraj Ramjattan and Sheila Holder. So, no distinction for Mr Ramotar there. Mr Jagdeo said Mr Ramotar’s humbleness is exemplary. Ms Holder is humble too. So is David Granger, an immensely qualified individual. Sasenarine Singh claims Khemraj Ramjattan is as humble as Cheddi Jagan (Sase is pushing it). Again, nothing there to report that sets Mr Ramotar apart.
President Jagdeo stated that Mr Ramotar has exceptional receptivity to new ideas. Hmmm, I wonder if he is talking about the same person I am talking about. For is this the same Donald Ramotar who refused the new ideas of democracy, transparency, accountability and freedom of expression within the PPP, the party he was General Secretary of for some 13 years? In fact, the communist politburo run by the Jagans as the PPP, became disastrously more autocratic under Mr Ramotar’s watch. The ostracising of Moses Nagamootoo and other PPP stalwarts occurred under his leadership of the PPP. So did its Stalinist ‘democracy,’ such as show of hands voting. The PPP also became a party of the rich and powerful for the rich and powerful by the rich and powerful in more recent times. The poor and powerless working class have no place there any more, except of course, to provide votes during elections. By suspending the PPP Congress, the General Secretary has effectively participated in the cancellation of an election which is conducted during the PPP congress. Yet, these are the same guys who love to remind people of the PNC’s electoral fraud. And the postponement of the congress, most ludicrously, is being done during an election year.
Is Bharrat Jagdeo still open the Jagans’ idea that a child such as Bharrat Jagdeo of poor working class parents can rise within the party to become President? For it seems that this current lot running the PPP has buried that ideal. For in the mind of those who refuse to allow a Congress to elect a new central committee or to face dissent over the nature of its appointment of a presidential candidate, the future leadership of this party seems destined to come from an incestuous pool of rich and powerful friends, family, confidantes.
On the topic of Mr Ramotar’s economic training, Donald Ramotar was never ever picked by the PPP for any economic post of note. This country has had quite a few finance ministers since 1992 and Mr Ramotar was never considered for any of these positions. He has never been appointed the head of any major corporation in Guyana. His stint on GuySuCo has coincided with the devastation of the corporation. So when it comes to economics, the PPP did not show any faith in Mr Ramotar. Why is the Head of State now selling Mr Ramotar as some economic saviour?
Yours faithfully,
M Maxwell
