Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo has not ruled out contesting for the position of General Secretary of the party.
Responding to a question at a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo who is also Leader of the Opposition, said: “Those are issues that we will discuss at the party level. Whenever the time comes, you will know about it.”
Jagdeo secured the most votes (718) for the party’s Central Committee (CC), in which 35 members were elected. The elections were conducted during the party’s 31st Congress held at the Cotton Field Secondary School, Essequibo Coast from December 17 to 19.
Jagdeo came out 98 votes ahead of the second placed Frank Anthony (620), 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 (583) emerged third in the voting.
The theme for the Congress was: ‘Strengthen the Party, Defend Democracy, Onward to Victory.’
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.
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 that Jagdeo won the most votes on Sunday 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 Ramotar, who was then president, declined to serve another term.
Anil Nandlall (548) dropped from the fourth spot he gained three years ago to fifth with Ramotar (570) placing fourth.
Rohee (522) who had placed tenth at the last congress moved to sixth; Ganga Persaud (512), who had placed twelfth, made it to the seventh spot and Irfaan Ali (511) who placed fifteenth in 2013 came at number eight at this election.
When asked if he would like to retain the post as GS, Rohee told Stabroek News yesterday, “of course.” But he too said that it was “for the party to decide” whether or not that would be the case.
Voting at this year’s congress 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 CC to influence the vote for GS when it is held sometime in the New Year. Observers say that Jagdeo has the required numbers on the CC.
Zulfikar Mustapha (496) made it to the number nine spot from 18 in 2013 and Shyam Nokta (495) 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.
Two newcomers to the parliamentary ranks of the PPP/C – Vickram Bharrat (408) and Alistair Charlie (356) – were seventeenth and twenty-first respectively, and many said this 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 party spokesman Robert Persaud who migrated shortly after the 2015 general elections, as well as Omar Shariff, former minister, Kellawan Lall, party stalwart Philomena Sahoye-Shury and Chitraykha Dass.
The other members elected to serve on the CC are: Indra Chandarpal (490), Roger Luncheon (488), Pauline Sukhai (460), Nigel Dharamlall (453), Vindhya Persaud (439), Hydar Ally (422), Dharamkumar Seeraj (393), Komal Chand (378), Colin Croal (360), Bryan Allicock (326), Neil Kumar (321), David Armogan (317), Jennifer Westford (304), Vishwa Mahadeo (289), Clinton Collymore (287), Kwame Mc Coy (281), Bheri Ramsaran (278), Faizal Jafferally (277), Majeed Hussain (267), Rickey Ramdatt (260), Claire Singh (255), Anand Persaud (242) and Mitra Devi Ali (230).
Highlights
Meanwhile, in a release yesterday, the PPP/C said that one of the highlights of the Congress was Rohee’s presentation of the report on the CC.
The release said too that several resolutions and motions were successfully moved by party groups. Among these were resolutions in support of Guyana’s territorial integrity and on crime, racial and political discrimination, alliance politics and political morality.
It stated too that “the Congress also presented awards to several comrades who provided long and dedicated service to the party.
“As is customary at PPP Congresses, tributes were paid to those Comrades who would have passed away from the time of the last Congress. Several messages from overseas fraternal parties and organizations were read,” the release said.
The discussions both at the plenary and workshop levels centred on strengthening the party politically and organizationally in order to win the next general and regional elections with an overwhelming majority.
According to the release, “The Congress ended on a high note of optimism and confidence in the capacity of the Party to defend the democratic and economic gains of the Guyanese people in the ongoing struggle against the anti-people policies and programmes being implemented by the Granger-led APNU-AFC regime.”
Resolutions
One of the resolutions approved at the congress called on the Inter-American Development Bank to “investigate the deliberate re-tendering of the institution’s funded projects and the constant interference of the Government of Guyana in the evaluation process which subvert Guyana’s Public Procurement laws and processes.”
There was also a resolution urging the International Community to “speak out against the repeated legal and procedural artifices utilized by the Chief Election Officer to delay the hearing and determination of the PPP’s Elections Petition, contrary to the advice given by certain members of the Diplomatic Community to the party that they had received assurances from the judiciary that the said Elections Petition would be heard and determined expeditiously as provided for and in accordance with the laws of Guyana.”
There was also a call for the International Community to support the necessary reforms which would ensure free and fair elections in Guyana in 2020.
The party also resolved “to urge the UNDP and other organizations which are offering technical advice and assistance to the Government of Guyana on social cohesion, to desist from collaborating in activities with the Ministry of Social Cohesion that subvert, undermine or exclude the Ethnic Relations Commission, the constitutional organ, designed and intended to promote harmony among Guyanese of different ethnic backgrounds.
The Congress of the PPP also welcomed the decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon to continue to pursue an agreement on the controversy in relation to the Guyana/Venezuela border issue.
The PPP said it remains resolute in its support of and for any process intended and designed to protect the territorial integrity of the country.
