The PPP/C says that it is reviewing its election strategy and why it lost votes and accused A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) of defenestrating tradition from Parliament.
Reading from a prepared statement at a press conference held at Freedom House yesterday was former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran. He reported the deliberations of the party’s Central Committee which met on Saturday, January 14, 2012, the first such meeting since the 2011 Regional and General Elections.
Ramkarran said that while recognizing that the PPP/C secured the largest amount of votes and seats in the National Assembly, “much discussion by the Central Committee focused on the reasons for the PPP not being able to win a majority over the combined Opposition in Parliament as in previous elections.” He said that there was a review of the underlying factors that caused the party to lose support.
He said that a menu of action was agreed to address these factors. “Immediate implementation of this plan of action was recognized [and] corrective action has been undertaken,” he said. He said that the PPP/C Government could have been stricken with a case of incumbency fatigue, where people become tired of the incumbency even if there is development in the country. “We are lucky that our party is deep rooted and has the support of a substantial number of people and we are fortunate for that support and we have had it for so many years but these things happen,” he said.
Ramkarran said that although there has been development in the country it has not touched everybody. “There are still poor people in Guyana. We haven’t touched everybody, and people have a right to become impatient,” he said. Executive member Robert Persaud – PPP/C campaign manager for the elections – added that there was some degree of voter apathy and over confidence that the PPP/C was assured of a majority win.
“I want to assure you that in reviewing the factors there is a strong sense of unity and commitment, will and resolve to fix those underlying factors,” he said. “All of us will have to look at our roles and look at how we could have done things differently and learn from this. We are not oblivious to areas where there were weaknesses and where there was some level of over-optimism,” he said.
The Party said it has assessed the current situation which resulted from the November 28, 2011 General and Regional Elections and “noted with deep concern the machinations and intrigues of APNU and AFC” to “derail” the democratic processes given their post-elections antics on and off the streets.
“Despite claims of voting irregularity the APNU is still to produce any credible evidence to substantiate its allegations of electoral malpractice,” Ramkarran said.
“The Party also noted with disgust the harassment and acts of intimidation against supporters and prominent individuals and groups who have expressed their democratic and constitutional right to support the PPP/C. The PPP/C will monitor this campaign of bullyism and intimidation against sections of the society to ensure that our country does not slide into an atmosphere of national discord and deep
division,” he said.
According to Ramkarran, the Central Committee observed that “in a wave of triumphalism, the Opposition APNU, with the collusion of its junior cohort, the AFC, unashamedly deployed its majoritarian will in Parliament recently that it has so harshly criticized in the past.”
Tradition out the window
Ramkarran said that in doing so it has violated the most hallowed of parliamentary conventions by elevating former PNC member, Raphael Trotman, to the Speaker’s Chair and PNC member, Debbie Backer, as Deputy Speaker.
The Party accused the Opposition of throwing tradition “out of the windows of Parliament Building” and taking control of both the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
“Mr. Granger’s declared expectation in his brief remarks that the Parliament will promote democracy and prevent abuse fell flat against the flagrant lack of respect for parliamentary democracy and
parliamentary norms on the first day of Parliament,” Ramkarran said.
“We cannot forget and the nation ought to be reminded that there are parliamentary conventions. We respect conventions and we would like to see everybody else respect conventions,” he said.
The PPP said it will do all that is within its power to protect the parliamentary gains of the people and will work with all forces for the development of Guyana. “In light of the new political dispensation, the Party expressed its willingness to work with all stakeholders including the political opposition, the social and religious organizations, trade unions and all NGOs in the furtherance of the development agenda of the country,” the former Speaker said.
Budget
Regarding talks about the budget, Ramkarran said that given the commitment of all the parties he sees no reason to be pessimistic and believes that an agreement will be arrived at in due course. He said this in light of Leader of the Opposition Granger’s statements about the Opposition possibly voting against the budget. “I don’t know of Mr. Granger’s statement but if he did make such a statement it would be a rather hasty conclusion. The budget is yet to be discussed,” said Ramkarran.
“I am confident that both the Government and the Opposition want to have an agreed budget. It is in the interest of both sides of the House, and it is in the interest of the country and I am sure that both sides will try very hard to have an agreed budget and I don’t see that there is any reason why the matters which have been publicly expressed by the Opposition cannot be addressed in some way and some of it accommodated,” Ramkarran said. “You will notice that President (Donald) Ramotar spoke about [reviewing] the VAT, which is one of the things that the Opposition talked about,” he said.
“I believe that both sides are mature enough to understand the times and the necessity of the times and they will work things out,” Ramkarran said.
Reform of GECOM
Ramkarran was questioned about the PPP/C’s openness to calls from the major observer groups and the Opposition parties for GECOM to be reformed.
He said that there are calls for the reform of GECOM after every election. “I want to remind you that the structure of GECOM which was determined in 1992 has regularly been on other parties’ agenda. But the major parties have chosen to retain it,” he said.
He added that the reform of GECOM is not something that the Government has resisted. “The reform of GECOM in terms of its structure is something that both major political parties always supported. If the reform of GECOM is placed on the agenda then I am sure that the Government and the PPP will consider it seriously,” he said.
He said too that if it is supportable and there is national support for change, “then one would have to consider that.”
