Is the appointment of Navin Chandarpal as a Presidential Adviser the first really clear-cut sign that Mr. Ramotar might be preparing to dust off the cobweb of the Jagdeo regime and beat a path of his own? Perhaps one that reconciles with those party comrades who had fallen out of favour with BJ and had been banished from his presence? While it’s true that one Kiskadee does not make a summer, restoring Navin to the PPP bureaucracy is significant if only because he is one of those comrades who quarreled openly with the former boss man and who, according to Jagdeo had not contributed much of substance during his first stint at the Office of the President.
Perhaps the move is not as surprising as we might think. The new President, after all, is a dyed-in-the-wool party man and while he had little to say during Mr. Jagdeo’s fallings out with some of the party faithful, he may well have decided that the way to go is to rehabilitate those who had been ‘disgraced’ under his predecessor to favour. Those who are old enough will recall that rehabilitation is a term which the Soviet and Chinese Communist parties employed to describe the resuscitation of the careers of comrades who, for one reason or another, had been sidelined by the system. Could it be that Navin’s appointment is a sign of things to come?
It’s good for Navin. He was one of those PPP high fliers who never allowed the power to go to his head. The question is whether his new preferment is an indication that Mr. Ramotar will be using the position of Presidential Adviser to further strengthen the state bureaucracy with party officials and whether he might even go further and recycle some of those one-time PPP Ministers who fell by the wayside after hitting the spotlight.
Some names come immediately to mind the most prominent one being Gail Teixeira. Gail enjoyed three separate ministerial portfolios before being downgraded to Presidential Advisor. She is a genuine party veteran. Well thought of in some circles and there are those who feel that her political experience which is considerably more than that of any of the serving members probably qualifies her for a return to the top shelf. Gail has continued to be a dutiful party comrade, advising the president in such ways as she has been required to do and keeping her nose clean – which is more than can be said for some of her colleagues.
Asgar Ally, perhaps? It was quite a surprise to see the former Finance Minister re-surface during the elections campaign and as things go he may well have been promised something in the new setup; not the Ministry of Finance, though. That portfolio, for the moment at least belongs to Doctor Ashni though there are rumours that at his age he has no intention of growing old in politics. Is it likely, perhaps, that Asgar might land a job as a high-flying guru on economic development that will see him jetting off to various capitals to engage the IDB, the World Bank, the CDB and the IMF as a kind of super envoy?
There are other sidelined PPP comrades who have hung around despite having fallen from grace……people like Navin’s wife, Indra, who never appeared to have been as well-liked as he was and Bibi Shadick who always appeared more than a trifle uncomfortable in her ministerial shoes. Will President Ramotar restore them to positions of prominence?
Some, on the other hand now appear to have been banished forever! Like Henry Jeffrey. Henry used to be a leading light in Burnham’s PNC. After Burnham’s demise he wrote a book that took ‘the vanguard party’ apart and that put paid to his political career – or so it seemed. Not so, however? He was pulled in by the PPP and made a Minister. After some cushy portfolios he was sent to Foreign Trade – never really a genuine Ministry but something created for Clement Rohee to keep him in the Cabinet after his Foreign Affairs debacle. That was the beginning of the end for Henry and the end manifested itself in a public row with Jagdeo. He crossed the floor again – said he was attracted to APNU’s policies prior to the November 28 elections. There’s no coming back for Henry now.
Nor is there any hope of a second coming and Moses. Well, everybody knows Moses’ story. His parting of ways with the PPP was one of the highlights of the 2011 elections. There will definitely be no recall for Moses. How could there be? Recall that Mr. Ramotar called him a snake during the elections campaign.
Now whatever the President and still General Secretary of the PPP might be thinking, one is inclined to wonder whether the PPP engine room has not thrown up any new, younger rising stars who might take their first stroll down the political catwalk very soon. Those that we have mentioned are becoming a trifle long in the tooth. OK Anil Nandlall may have finally landed the job he was looking for but then whether or not he is really a rising star is a matter that continues to be debated among political pundits since his becoming Legal Affairs Minister. After all the new Attorney General was made to look like a rookie lawyer during the recent Kissoon et al court case with Mr. Jagdeo.
To return to the Navin Chandarpal matter his appointment has given rise to the view that Mr. Jagdeo’s predisposition for targeting those who crossed him for one form of punishment or another might now become a thing of the past even though we must wait and see.
Incidentally, good old Reepu might be ‘off the pace’ now but they’re still playing him on the team anyway. Whatever else can be said of the PPP loyalty clearly counts.
