Sums expended to cater to former president Bharrat Jagdeo under the 2009 Former Presidents (Benefits and other Facilities) Act are not excessive, PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee said yesterday.
Responding to a question posed by Stabroek News at the party’s weekly media briefing at Freedom House, Rohee said there will always be objections to the former president’s benefits.
Asked if the amount of money being spent was not against the frugal principles of the party’s founder Cheddi Jagan, he stated: “I would leave that to the so-called political pundits to speculate on, I am not getting into that.”
He added: “This is a matter for the party to study and internalise on.”
He said: “We…the current leaders of the PPP supported the bill in the Parliament in respect to the president’s pensions and benefits, we did that and we consciously did that in the parliament. Every single MP supported that.” Rohee also pointed out that Moses Nagamootoo, a former PPP member and now vice chairman of the Alliance for Change,
