Chairman of the Alliance for Change, Khemraj Ramjattan says that if offered by his party, he would agree to replace Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as President David Granger’s running mate, going into the next General Elections.
“I would certainly accept the nomination,” he said yesterday, when asked by Stabroek News if he would accept the offer by his party for the position.
And while AFC Leader Raphael Trotman has said that he supports Nagamootoo and warns that replacing him at this time was indicative of accepting that the APNU+AFC coalition has failed as a government, Ramjattan said that is just Trotman’s personal opinion. As such, it should not be construed to be taken as a party stance since the party has not yet decided on the matter.
Ramjattan, the Minister of Public Security, stressed that his portfolio rests with and will be decided by the party when it votes at its next congress.
“Obviously what Raphael is indicating is his personal opinion and we got a lot of personal opinions in a liberal democratic party,” he said.
Trotman says his support for Nagamootoo to be the Prime Ministerial candidate for APNU+AFC at the next elections stems from his belief that replacing him would be seen as an acceptance by government that it has failed and that the opposition’s no-confidence motion against it was justified.
“The no-confidence motion was a direct challenge on the Granger/ Nagamootoo leadership. In my view, if we were to jump to replace either gentleman in an emotive way, we would be openly conceding that the motion and vote were justified and valid,” Trotman told this newspaper in a recent interview.
Although other members of the AFC’s leadership have stated that it is unlikely that Nagamootoo would be proposed as the Prime Ministerial candidate again, Trotman believes that Nagamootoo should remain where he is as there is no other candidate to attract more votes than him.
“Politics and elections are very fluid and it is simply too early to talk about replacing anyone, unless, of course, you have others who are eminently better qualified and will bring out a larger percentage of the vote. As a politician, I prefer not to be too hasty, but to take time to observe and assess before reacting emotively,” he said.
“The AFC has not put forward an alternative name to Moses, and right now I am not sure if anyone feels that he or she can do a better job by winning more votes nationally, and has national acceptability. It is important to not only bear the ethnic factor in mind, but also to ensure that all groups feel a sense of comfort in the candidate – whether they vote for him or her or not,” he added.
Senior party officials have said that decisions about the AFC’s future will be made at its upcoming national conference. While a date has not yet been set for the conference, officials have assured that it will be held by March 31st, 2019, as per the party’s constitution.
Many believe that given the atmosphere at the last National Executive Committee meeting, Nagamootoo will not be proposed as the PM candidate again. “The majority view is that we will want the same things as in the Cummingsburg [Accord] going into this elections but most persons are of the view that the Prime Minister position should go to someone else,” one senior party executive, who requested anonymity, has told this newspaper.
“I cannot tell you why the leader said that he supports another Granger/Nagamootoo term, but I can tell you that the view of most of us is Granger yes but Moses again no. No one is blaming Moses for anything—well, that I know of—but the general consensus is to have another person as PM,” another party official said.
