The PPP would do well to heed the call by former stalwart Ralph Ramkarran to have its membership elect the leaders of the party, but the current leadership does not seem amenable to this, says former Central Committee member and now AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan.
The party has faced calls before to further democratise its processes. Ramjattan, in 2002 when he was a high-ranking member, had tabled a resolution at the Port Mourant Congress proposing that the membership elect top party leaders as opposed to the current method, where the 35 members of the Central Committee agree on the leadership. His call was rejected. Ramjattan was later expelled from the party and formed the AFC.
Ramkarran, a former longstanding PPP executive, who parted ways with the party in June