Even as he walked back a commitment to name a Presidential Candidate by year end a chuckling Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday declared that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is not scrambling to identify its leader ahead of the impending General and Regional Elections.
Exactly one week ago Jagdeo indicated that the party had not decided whether it makes sense to name its presidential candidate just before or just after the no-confidence motion but that they would be identified by year end.
However yesterday at his Church Street office he told reporters that he was unsure if members of the party’s Executive will be in any mood to meet again soon after a scheduled meeting on Thursday since we are right in the Christmas season.
“We were hoping that after the Local Government Elections we would’ve had a breather but we were engaged in the Budget and immediately thereafter the no-confidence vote right in the middle of the Christmas season but there is no desperation on our part. We are not scrambling to do it,” he explained noting that the party now has no choice but to accelerate the process.
On Friday, a motion of no-confidence in the David Granger-led government was carried 33 to 32 in the National Assembly after government MP Charrandas Persaud defected and voted with the Opposition PPP/C. The passage of the motion means that General Elections are constitutionally due in three months.
In yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News it was noted in a news item that given his medical condition it is unlikely that President David Granger would be well enough to lead the governing coalition into the elections. This leaves an apparently leadership vacuum for the incumbent. Meanwhile after delaying its selection of a presidential candidate for months, the PPP will now barely have three months to introduce its choice to the wider public and give that person a chance to mobilise broad national support while facing scrutiny and questions on their public record.
The scrutiny now seems likely to be more intense as Jagdeo has expressed a preference for someone with Cabinet experience.
“If you have newbies, then it’s much harder if you don’t have some Cabinet experience. I benefitted enormously by being a member of the Cabinet for a while so I had experience as to what the issues were being debated so we have a great pool of people who have had this experience and are still young,” he said adding that the PPP has several persons in their 30s, 40s and 50s who have accumulated eight to 10 years cabinet experience while the opposition is limited to a pool of persons 60 and older.
“We have a big pool with quite a few young people so we are not desperate,” Jagdeo said.
The Former President also stressed that while he is unlikely to hold a ministerial post he will be active in any PPP/C government.
“I have no interest in the trappings of government but I have to ensure that we deliver that is my role as counsel,” Jagdeo said adding that his engagement in government “is to ensure that we deliver promises…as the General Secretary of the party I have to ensure that that happens.”
He however claimed that he will not be puppet master.
“If anybody gets appointed no matter who they will say that that person is Jagdeo’s puppet. They used to say I am Janet Jagan’s puppet, that was the mantra of APNU so the same thing they will say if we appoint high or low, big or small. Whoever emerges as the PPP’s candidate will be Jagdeo’s puppet,” he stressed.
Jagdeo also maintained that he was not active in government during the Donald Ramotar administration.
“I made a clean exit. I was enjoying doing other things globally. I walked away totally. I did not give a public interview in the entire 3 years after I left office. I shared my views as a member of the executive and approaches I suggested were not used. That is my record,” he explained.
Asked to explain what measure he will use to ensure that the Presidential candidate selected fulfils the promises made, Jagdeo noted that the manifesto is a party’s promise and that any presidential candidate will be representing the party.
“You can’t kill the President or do anything of that sort but I can be the first one if I see a departure to publicly criticize,” Jagdeo stressed when pressed as to what specifically as General Secretary will do about a rogue president.
