Dear Editor,
I will state immediately at the outset, that while I was a member of the PPP, I was the political protege of Moses Nagamootoo, who was the most popular PPP leader outside of the Jagans, due largely to his accompanying Cheddi Jagan on most of his outreach meetings over the years, his penchant for public speaking and his ability to rouse the crowds for Cheddi to address afterwards.
I also noticed Moses’s regular forays into dissociating himself from the collective positions of the rest of the Central Committee of the PPP, which after the rise of Jagdeo, ultimately led to his ouster from the Ex-co of the PPP.
He fearlessly stood up and questioned the role and contribution of Ronald Gajraj and the attention he was attracting to the PPP’s governing style and content. I sat in the Central Committee 1990-1994 until I was unceremoniously booted from that body – later it was Khemraj Ramjattan’s turn to be kicked out of the Central Committee – and during that period I observed the attitude and conduct of Ralph Ramkarran, son of Boysie and brother of Bayney.
I can attest to the fact that he conducted himself with decorum and general fairness and always held or demanded the middle ground, and that the various factions within the leadership of the PPP do the same. It is also a fact that Ralph was for a long time the only qualified lawyer within the leadership of the PPP. In fact, in the lead-up to the present time, in spite of my close association with Moses, I was inclined, on being asked by Guyanese, to support Ralph as the PPP candidate, as clearly, he was the most suitable for the job from among those who have publicly declared for the position. Ralph is definitely qualified on most criteria to become a good President, if not one of the best persons to ever attempt to run for the position from within the current PPP.
Moses is the most popular, within the PPP and Guyana at the grass-roots level, and at this time has the best chance of maximizing the PPP’s attraction to their support base both at home and abroad. Moses is the only person with a proven track record, who can convince some of the PPP’s faithful to stick with the PPP. In fact, the feedback from both outside and inside the PPP, is that his exclusion will cause serious ripples.
As the issue relates to Mr Ramotar he was clearly never seen as leadership material, testified to by the fact that he was never considered for Cabinet level recognition both before and after his selection as General Secretary. He has a degree from UG in Economics.
The PPP’s Ex-co with its 15 votes is what I term the ‘cloak and dagger body,’ where all decisions are made in communist parties. It is the politburo which then passes down decisions to the CC to be sanctioned by that 35-man body, which is elected by the party congress once every three years.
Clement Rohee was Executive Secretary, before Donald was given the job as General Secretary. He is a hard worker, but his chances of succession evaporated with the passing of the Jagans. In any case, one would note that the persons considered for the sensitive position of General Secretary, outside of Janet Jagan, were both Prague schooled by the Communist International, a source also, for funding of Communist parties worldwide. Donald was the first to embark on this training, instead of Moses, followed by Kellawan Lall and Clement Rohee, before the socialist system collapsed.
I have seen much speculation about Robert Persaud being among those in contention for the position, but I always knew that he would be a non-starter because he does not have the political background/experience for the job.
Those who know the PPP, knew that Donald always had a lock on the nomination, from the moment he announced his interest in the position.
Yours faithfully,
Lionel Peters
