Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo secured the most votes for the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) Central Committee on Sunday, placing him in pole position to contest for the post of General Secretary (GS).
With the PPP having lost power following the 2015 general elections, the three-day congress at Cotton Field, Essequibo was seen as not only vital to repositioning the party to challenge the governing APNU+AFC coalition but also to deciding which of its leaders would steer the campaign.
Jagdeo came out 100 votes ahead of the second placed Frank Anthony giving him a mandate to take the reins of the party if he wants it. Long-serving executive member and current opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira emerged third in the voting.
The elections were held on Saturday afternoon for 35 members following the opening session of the 31st Congress that was held at the Cotton Field Secondary School. The theme for the Congress, which ended yesterday was: ‘Strengthen the Party, Defend Democracy, Onward to Victory.’
At the last Congress held in 2013 at Port Mourant, Berbice, former GS of the PPP, Donald Ramotar had earned the top spot (886 votes) and was followed closely by Jagdeo (851 votes).
It came as no surprise yesterday that Jagdeo won the most votes and observers say that since he remains interested in a third term as president, the GS post would be a perfect platform for him. The current GS is Clement Rohee who secured the position in 2013 after then Ramotar, who was then president, declined to serve another term.
Sunday’s voting would have been pivotal to the contenders for the GS post as they would have had to get as many of their supporters as possible on the Central Committee to influence the vote when it is held sometime in the New Year. Observers say that Jagdeo has the required numbers on the Central Committee.
In Sunday’s voting, Anil Nandlall dropped from the fourth spot he gained three years ago to fifth while the party’s GS, Rohee who had placed tenth at the last congress moved to sixth; Ganga Persaud, who had placed twelfth, made it to the seventh spot and Irfaan Ali who placed fifteenth in 2013 came at number eight at this election.
Zulfikar Mustapha made it to the number nine from 18 in 2013 and Shyam Nokta moved from twenty-fourth at the last election to tenth.
Anthony, who had maintained the third spot for two consecutive congresses – in 2008 and in 2013 – led Teixeira by 37 votes.
The positions of two newcomers to the parliamentary ranks of the PPP/C – Vickram Bharrat and Alistair Charlie – were seventeenth and twenty-first respectively, and many said these came as a shock.
Members also voted for five candidate (non-voting) members: Ramkarran Kissoon, first; Edward Casimero, second; Vania Albert, third and Jagnarine Somwar, fourth while Fidel John and Humace Oodit tied for the fifth place. The new Central Committee is expected to resolve the tie.
Notably off the central committee was former minister and key spokes-man Robert Persaud who migrated shortly after the 2015 general elections.
Head of the Credentials Committee, Robeson Benn announced the results yesterday morning.
Resolutions
At the Congress, Jagdeo, presented three resolutions, one of which is to support the decision by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regarding the way forward for the Venezuelan border controversy.
Ban has given Guyana and Venezuela one more year to resolve the border issue through mediation. Guyana had written last year to the Secretary-General seeking a juridical settlement to the controversy. He subsequently dispatched several missions to both Guyana and Venezuela to discuss the way forward and had promised to make a decision by November.
Another resolution saw Jagdeo calling on the international community to assist in putting pressure on the relevant authorities for the speedy hearing of the elections petition case before the court. The PPP/C has challenged the results of the 2015 general elections.
According to sources, the third resolution, he mentioned, related to concerns about the Social Cohesion Ministry.
The party had filed the petition to contest the results of the May 2015 general and regional elections, claiming it had been rigged in favour of the APNU+AFC coalition government.
At the opening session of the congress on Saturday, Jagdeo, who served as President between 1999 and 2011, had urged members to work hard to return the party to power and to use the time at the Congress to fix the things that led to the party becoming the opposition.
“We need to look at ourselves; two days we would have to talk about what went wrong and we must have an honest assessment. Then we can fix the problems that led us to opposition,” he said.
Without elaborating, Jagdeo added, “We know about the stealing, the stealing took place on a massive scale but that’s not the only reason we are in opposition today and we need to fix those too.”
Stealing was a reference to the PPP/C claim that the 2015 general election was rigged.
