Dear Editor,
I should be obliged if you would allow me the opportunity to correct some misconceptions in Mr Frederick Kissoon’s letter of August 10 in which he asserted that: “Mr Ramkarran made a mistake when he appeared in his speech to have opposed Moses Nagamootoo for condemning Mugabe as a dictator and for choosing Barack Obama as US President. Mr Ramkarran’s timing was bad. This was before voting and also Nagamootoo’s contribution was warmly welcomed by the entire floor. This faux pas by Mr Ramkarran may have caused him to lose votes but he definitely could not have placed 22 on the list for the central committee. This could not have been. It is just not possible when you look at the names that were chosen above Mr. Ramkarran.”
The facts are as follows: During the debate on the international situation, Moses Nagamootoo made a valuable contribution which included views on Zimbabwe and Barack Obama. As Chair of that session I did not intervene in the debate. In speaking about Barack Obama, Moses mistakenly referred to him as “Mugabe.” This was a slip of the tongue and happens to all of us. I merely corrected the slip after Moses had spoken. He understood what I did and so did the audience. This took place on Sunday morning. Voting had already taken place the day before.
I should like to thank you, Mr Editor, for the opportunity of responding to another letter by Mr Kissoon published on August 12, an advance copy of which you have sent me. Mr Kissoon repeats his frequently recited story of the “1997 clash between Mr Ramkarran and Mr Moses Nagamootoo” in which Moses and I are alleged to have had a mutually destructive war of words in 1997 resulting in the loss by both of us of the presidential nomination of the PPP. It is a fanciful and wholly imaginary account of the events of 1997. Mr Kissoon’s version of the events is as misconceived as in the above case. No such things happen in real life, at least not in the PPP. I can only speak for myself on this matter and I say that I did not engage any comrade nor did any comrade engage me in a clash or war of words. Of course, I’m not at liberty to disclose PPP’s confidential business and so I will not respond to Mr Kissoon’s inevitable demand that if his version is incorrect then I am somehow obliged to give my own, a well known tactic of his.
Mr Kissoon repeats another story which has been mentioned by him at least once before, which he alleges has wide circulation, namely, that my alleged chances of obtaining the “Party’s nod for its presidential slot” have been dashed by my disinclination to take up a cabinet post since 1992. Mr Kissoon reached this conclusion after allegedly speaking to “a most important actor” and what could not be more than a couple of people. The only person who has widely circulated this story, as far as I‘m aware, is Mr Kissoon in his column in the Kaieteur News. All I can say is that the “actor” was on his/her best performance and it is certainly an inadequate basis for Mr Kissoon’s speculative conclusion.
Mr. Kissoon’s changing positions on the outcome of the voting in relation to me at the PPP’s Congress provides ample evidence, if any more is needed, that his “analyses” are shallow, based on rumour and hearsay and ought to be dismissed. He first alleged that the voting was rigged against me.
He then qualified this by a fake story about my opposing Moses for condemning Mugabe as the reason for my losing some votes. Finally, he regurgitates an old tale about my not accepting a ministerial post since 1992 as the reason for “rethinking” his allegation about the votes for me being “rearranged.”
Lastly, in flat contradiction to Mr Kissoon’s story about a clash between me and Moses leading to our mutual destruction, a falsehood has been perpetrated in some quarters for several years to the effect that I declined the PPP’s nomination for the candidacy for President in 1997. The danger of not immediately denying these stories because of a sense of Party unity and decorum, which now turns out to have been a mistake on my part, has been demonstrated recently when this story was embellished and utilised negatively and with devastating effect. Assuming but not admitting the allegation that I was one of the nominees discussed (I apologise for the legalese), I never declined. I never indicated a disinterest in such nomination at any time.
From the time I have been active in the PPP I have accepted all Party assignments and responsibilities which have been given to me except where an available option of refusal could have been and was exercised without any adverse consequences for the Party. As a PPP member I have continued and will continue to function on those same principles, will continue to accept assignments and responsibilities, while at the same time supporting the PPP’s commitment to national unity, economic development, security for all, social justice and lean and clean governance.
Yours faithfully,
Ralph Ramkarran
