With less than a month before Guyanese go to the polls, a major tussle is in the making between the incumbent PPP/C and a Moses Nagamootoo-endowed Alliance For Change (AFC) for political momentum in Region 6—with the latter convinced it will make significant inroads in the region.
On Sunday, both the ruling PPP/C and the AFC held political meetings on the Corentyne. A few weeks ago opposition coalition APNU and the PPP/C held rallies in Linden one day apart but this weekend was the first time so far in the election campaign that two major parties had held rallies in the same area on the same day.
The AFC, apparently energized by the addition of former PPP stalwart Nagamoo-too to its platform, held a rally at Whim- Nagamootoo’s home village. In front of a large gathering, Nagamootoo said that the PPP had moved away from the vision of its founder Dr Cheddi Jagan and endorsed the leadership of the AFC presidential candidate Khemraj Ramjattan.
The PPP, on the other hand, held a public meeting in Port Mourant where the large gathering was addressed by Dr Cheddi ‘Joey’ Jagan Jr, Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy and where former AFC executive member Gaumattie Singh endorsed the PPP/C. Addressing the traditional PPP stronghold, she accused the AFC of being deceitful and dishonest and said the egos of the leaders are “bigger than the circumference of this earth.” Singh said too that “they want to be president of this country and they can’t run their own party.”
Ramjattan is confident that his party will win Region 6. “It will be the collapse of the PPP in Corentyne. I see the PPP shaking in their pants,” Ramjattan said. While noting that at the last elections, the AFC did not do so well in Berbice, Ramjattan said that the “eyes of Berbicians are opening.” The PPP/C, government has failed to deliver on several promises made to Berbicians, Ramjattan contended, indicating that unemployment is one of the biggest issues facing residents there at the moment.
Ramjattan also said that the AFC had unearthed “a diamond” in Nagamootoo. “With Nagamootoo we definitely will win Region 6,” Ramjattan said. Ramjattan said that while he would have been speaking about the evils of the PPP/C, Nagamootoo comes with recent experience. “Nagamootoo has emerged from out of the belly of the beast,” he said.
However, PPP/C campaign spokesperson Robert Persaud says that the incumbent party is not afraid of the AFC or Nagamootoo. “Nagamootoo nor AFC is a threat to the PPP/C in Berbice or any part of the country,” he said. He noted that this is not the first time “elements have tried to compete with the PPP, noting that in the 1960s and 1970s personalities such as Balram Singh Rai, Ranji Chandisingh and Halim Majeed had defected from the PPP but had failed in attempts to compete with the PPP. Citing a more recent example, Persaud said that Ravi Dev’s Rise Organize And Rebuild Guyana movement had also failed in its attempt to compete with the PPP in this region.
Pointing to Sunday’s public meeting, Persaud said that there was “an excellent response” by the people of Whim and other Central Corentyne villages, which indicate that there is clear support for the ruling party and rejection of the AFC and the opposition coalition A Partnership For National Unity (APNU).
Responding to a question about Singh’s endorsement of the PPP/C, Persaud said that she had voluntarily joined the party’s platform and was just another one of the many opposition figures coming on board. This, he added, signals the rejection of the AFC/ APNU politics of slander and division.
