Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo said the PPP’s complacency and arrogance were major factors in the party losing last year’s May 11, General and Regional Elections.
At the party’s year-end press briefing held at Freedom House yesterday Jagdeo admitted that there was a severe disconnect between the party and its supporters on the ground. He said trends from the 2011 elections suggested that then opposing parties, APNU and AFC were gaining footholds among PPP supporters, however the work wasn’t done to bring persons back on board.
He told members of the media, “We will work very hard to strengthen our party as I have said before on the ground going back house to house to people right across this country and rebuilding a connection between them and the party.”
Speaking directly about the May 11, elections he said, “One of the factors was our own complacency… and in many aspects our attitude. We have had people at different levels of government, even the lowest level of government, who became arrogant and that sort of thing that harmed us. “We lost connection with people.”
Jagdeo spoke about the need to reach a more youthful generation with the party working vigorously to incubate a new generation of leaders; youths who are capable of taking the country forward.
“Another contributing factor was the generation under 30. They have no memory of how it used to be and so this message of change was a very potent one. Everybody talked change,” Jagdeo stated.
He continued that now that the Coalition is in government, feedback from PPP supporters who had switched their support revealed regret and frustration. The former president noted that the party should be taking advantage of these situations and reaching out to people.
“Now many people are understanding, including that generation, that change can go in two directions or many directions, but it can get worse too.
“So next time we go to the polls, that curiosity factor will be satisfied.
Those who never knew, the young people especially that never knew anyone else in government… they have now had a change to compare. [If they] never had a frame of reference they will now have that,” Jagdeo stated.
The election was close with the APNU+AFC Coalition winning with 206,817 votes, versus 201,457 votes cast for Donald Ramotar and the PPP/C.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo said that in 2016 the party will lobby heavily for government to replace lost benefits such as the ‘Because we Care’ $10,000 school voucher and water and electricity rebates for the elderly.
Jagdeo told members of the media that as a patriot it was not the PPP’s goal to circumvent progress.
He said the party will work with government to implement the manifesto promises highlighting that both sides have promised to address lowering the Value Added Tax.
