Former leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan said that the party will not be marred with jealousy and pettiness but instead will rise above the negatives to preserve its identity through good performances.
At the time he was making remarks during the party’s 5th Biennial National Conference held at the Vreed-en-Hoop Primary School on Saturday last. Ramjattan, who was seeking re-election, later lost by a two-vote margin to Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman.
While making it clear that the AFC must not be antagonistic, he stressed that the party was not on a collision course with the APNU. He said there will never be “jealousies and pettiness [that] will always be especially coming from the lesser minds… the party must seek to avoid that which will jeopardize the coalition’s existence to the detriment of the Cummingsburg Accord or to the benefit of [former president Bharrat] Jagdeo and the PPP.”
He said it was at this level that there was need for better communication with members as well as a display of maturity.
According to Ramjattan, there was also need for quick resolutions to problems though constant engagements with all the coalition partners.
Ramjattan made it clear that AFC will continue to ensure that its voice was heard and its identity maintained. He reminded all that mistakes will be made, but the AFC will dust itself off and continue its work in the interest of its supporters and the people of Guyana.
He said he has learnt that removing a government was one thing but governing was a different matter. “I have come to realize in this political realm that the public blames democratic leaders and democracy itself for failing to meet economic and political expectations even if what was inherited was massive corruption and abuse. Yes they blame us,” he said.
With regard to consolidating strengths as a party, Ramjattan said that with the APNU partner, the party has performed “more than satisfactorily on all fronts in every sector,” but there were negative people out there who would want to say otherwise, something that was expected.
“That is a strength in itself because we ensure an unhindered freedom to express our views in this country,” he said.
Not seeking to degrade any of his colleagues in the APNU, he stated “our AFC ministers have all done well in their respective portfolios and jurisdictions.”
Ramjattan lauded Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, speaking highly of his work in the Parliament and on Constitutional Reform. He also praised Minister of Natural Resources Trotman, Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes, Minister of Public Works David Patterson, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin and mentioned his own work in the security sector.
“Now these are strengths within the AFC… A political party will be as strong as the personalities that make it up and the personalities that perform,” he said while warning that the party must not be miserly with its accomplishments but rather should work together and embrace them.
He said the coalition government has improved in several aspects including the Transparency International corruption index and there was now restored confidence and respect from the international community.
Ramjattan said the AFC was faced with a number of challenges, among them the fact that at the party level, “we began an inconvenient and unnecessary criticism of our coalition government by some members, which at times became very destructive.
“I want to be blunt. I want to be the Ramjattan that I am and I am gonna say it to members here. It became destructive.”
He said that this situation may have emerged out of great expectations
Ramjattan told that gathering that the conference must seek to unite and consolidate brothers and sisters with the strength of the AFC. He said that it must seek to further its identity and spread its relevance to all quarters of the country.
He said that from the very inception of its formation and at the 2015 elections, the AFC has been a successful party, in “what must be frankly described as an ethnic-based society.”
As the third strongest political force in Guyana, the AFC contributed significantly to the PPP becoming a minority government for the first time in 2011. “You remember that. We were the one that got seven seats then, when people have said we were a wishy-washy party,” he said to applause.
