Former Guyana People’s Partnership (GPP) leader Peter Ramsaroop has said that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) members forced him out—a claim disputed by the opposition coalition’s presidential candidate David Granger.
Recently, Ramsaroop told Stabroek News that he was dissatisfied with the APNU and was critical of Granger’s leadership. Ramsaroop said that while his party became a member of APNU, he personally did not enter any strategic discussions after his party signed on. According to him, when he went in to negotiate the GPP’s potential entrance into the APNU, other members of partnership voted that he and his team be excluded from discussions on the coalition’s name and symbol.
However, Granger disputed Ramsaroop’s account. “Mr Ramsaroop was not cast aside. He is the author of his own situation,” Granger told this newspaper, prior to the announcement of the businessman’s endorsement of the PPP/C on Tuesday. “One of the reasons why his party was not one of the founding parties is because of his own ambivalence towards the APNU,” Granger added. “He joined after the launch on July 15 and then we were informed that Mr Vaughn Phillips is the leader of the GPP and Mr Ramsaroop never came to anymore meetings. So it doesn’t have anything to do with Granger’s dynamism but it has a lot to do with Ramsaroop’s ambitions,” he said.
The executive of the GPP on Tuesday said that it unanimously decided to expel and revoke the membership of Ramsaroop, who recently endorsed the PPP/C ahead of next month’s elections.
The decision to expel Ramsaroop was made on Monday, Vaughn Phillips, the current leader of the GPP, said in a statement. “…The executive has decided to revoke the membership of Mr Peter Ramsaroop who for years fought against and spoke of the evils of the PPP/C…,” Phillips said, while noting that the GPP is a committed member of APNU.
“The GPP executive and membership supports our presidential candidate David Granger and prime ministerial candidate Rupert Roopnaraine and looks forward to working with the other partners of APNU towards winning the November 28 general and regional elections,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Ramsaroop formally endorsed the PPP/C, saying that he had reviewed the party’s manifesto and was gratified that it had many key programmes in it. “I have had a chance to review the PPP/C 2011 and Beyond Manifesto and find it refreshing that many of the key programmes, such as the deep water harbour, completion of the road to Brazil and certain tax reliefs are all in the plan under a [Donald] Ramotar-led government. In addition, the Presidential Candidate has promised a review of the entire tax system, including the VAT, which I strongly believe must happen,” Ramsaroop said in a news release.
The endorsement came days after he issued an apology to Agriculture Minister and PPP/C Campaign Manager Robert Persaud over statements he had made about him in a TV programme.
Ramsaroop, who had previously accused the Jagdeo administration of stymieing several of his business endeavours, started out with the PNCR and headed his own political party, PUP. In 2006, he had initially been part of efforts for a united opposition to challenge the PPP/C but these were unsuccessful. Subsequently, he joined the Alliance for Change (AFC) and was the Chief Executive Officer of the party before resigning after differences with the leadership. He later formed the GPP and had been preparing to campaign for the presidency in 2011.
