PPP Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar says he will not consider parliamentary representation for the Diaspora
“No. I won’t consider that,” he said, when asked in a recent interview whether he would consider parliamentary representation for the Diaspora. “There is a view out there that I think needs to be considered—that it is morally wrong—although in many countries you have overseas voting taking place. There is still a view that should be considered that it is morally wrong for people to be living in another society and have a say in who should govern here,” Ramotar added. “At this point in time, I don’t think we’re ready for that.”
Diaspora representation in the National Assembly is being advocated by the opposition AFC, which has said it would reserve two seats for representatives of overseas-based Guyanese.
AFC Presidential Candidate Khemraj Ramjattan has said that in his legal opinion there is nothing blocking Guyanese residing overseas who continue to hold Guyanese citizenship from being on a party’s list of candidates, once they have registered to vote. A Member of Parliament has to be extracted from a Party’s List of Candidates submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission before the polls. In its Action Plan for Guyana, launched in January, the party said that it would promote Diasporal representation in the National Assembly and explore the introduction of overseas voting at general elections.
Meantime, in relation to the University of Guyana, Ramotar said that the institution must upgrade its status. While he has heard that government plans to put more money into UG, the institution has to find means and ways of raising funds too, Ramotar said. He said that there are a number of things that can be done pointing to the biodiesel project and other research and development activities as one where greater emphasis must be placed. However, he said he was not sure that raising student fees is one way to go in terms of raising funds. “As far as possible, I think we should try to restrict the level of fees so that we don’t keep out bright people who cannot afford it,” Ramotar said. There are other areas where the private sector, which benefits, can offer scholarships, he said. “We have to look at various ways and means, we have to look at these things to see how we can help to ensure UG is adequately funded, adequately financed so it can play the developmental role that it was set up actually to play,” he said.
Ramotar emphasised that UG is an investment that is worthwhile but ways must be found to keep the graduates. Given the developments taking place in the country, young people have an opportunity to become builders of this land, he said. “But if you only talk about looking at basically the issue of wages and salaries, we will never be able to keep all of our (graduates) if salaries are the only thing that motivates people,” he added. He said that with the new infrastructure that will be put in place such as the fibre optic cable and electricity, it is clear that the potential is there to attract people back here.
Ramotar also dismissed the alleged ageist implications of comments by President Bharrat Jagdeo, who referred to PNCR’s presidential Candidate David Granger’s age. The president was not speaking about the “typical age,” Ramotar, who is slightly younger than Granger, said. “I think he was saying that I’m a person who young people can find a friend and a person who promotes young people and I don’t stifle young people; that is what I get him to be saying,” he said.
The PPP Presidential Candidate said that the party will be able to attract young people by the force of their arguments and their record. “We’re a party that looks after the interests of people regardless of their age and we don’t allow people’s age, if they have the ability, to keep them back,” he said. According to Ramotar, the PPP enjoyed a lot of cross-over votes in the last elections and he is sure that they will enjoy more in the forthcoming elections. “Being in government has given us the opportunity to demonstrate that we don’t discriminate, we don’t discriminate, [and] that our policies are national policies. We don’t have a policy for one section of the population,” he said pointing out that they have built school and hospitals in every region.
He also cited Linden as a community where much support had been given. “We had to subsidise that community until the situation with bauxite got very much better,” he said, while stressing that the PPP has done things in a “very even way.”
Ramotar said that in the forthcoming campaign, they will have make use of social networking sites such as Facebook, saying that this is a “new battlefield that we have to get engaged in.”
