Former Executive Member of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Dr Verasammy Ramayya yesterday said that he is considering joining the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
“I am leaning towards the PPP but I am not committed… At this stage my heart is saying the PPP but I have to consider…” he told Stabroek News yesterday, following his attendance at the 20th death anniversary memorial for President Cheddi Jagan at Babu John, Port Mourant and his subsequent mingling with PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and other PPP executives at the site.
Ramayya, who is seen as a popular figure in Berbice, was thought to have been a vote-getter for the AFC and APNU+AFC in 2011 and 2015. During these campaigns he was severely targeted by supporters of the PPP.
Ramayya’s contemplation is coming at a time when Opposition Leader Jagdeo is urging party supporters to willingly embrace and accept those who have strayed away during the past elections.
Jagdeo yesterday called on supporters of the party to be willing and accepting of persons who have distanced themselves from the party. “You have to be open. There will be new members and you have to be accommodating. A lot of people who left and went to the AFC they were disillusioned and are now coming back. Welcome them back into the family,” he urged the supporters.
“Don’t by our attitudes chase them away. That’s not the Cheddi Jagan way. Don’t by your attitude say ‘oh is you all cause this to happen. You all want change. Look at the change you get’…Yes, people make mistakes. Many acknowledge that and so it’s time to strengthen our family by inclusion, by bringing people back to us,” he added.
He said that currently many persons feel politically lost and the PPP has to be embraced without partiality so as to increase its membership and support bases. “We must offer that home to everyone that comes, because if we have the numbers we can win easily. APNU supporters are welcome and we will get stronger by inclusion,” the PPP Leader stressed.
His words seem to have found favour with Ramayya, who came quietly to yesterday’s memorial, dressed in a red golf shirt, seeming to test his acceptance as he stayed behind the fences of the facility, only crossing over to the actual event after urging from villagers and Jagdeo’s announcement.
Some persons however teased him but he did not seem bothered. “Ow watch, same place you end up back, come bai Ramayya come and you hear wha he say? We welcome you, we nah guh chase yuh,” were some words aimed at the former AFC executive, Member of Parliament and Region Six Regional Executive Officer under the APNU+AFC government.
‘Passion’
But Ramayya told this newspaper that his decision would be based on which political party has the people’s best interest. He added that he would have to weigh the pros and cons of all parties before making a firm decision.
“When I started my work as a politician I was independent and I pledged to be the voice of the poor people,” he said, adding that he had teamed up with the AFC out of “passion” only after being labelled as a member of the AFC by members of the PPP.
“I had (former AFC Leader) Khemraj (Ramjattan) several times on my (TV) programme ‘Issues of the People’ and then I was labelled by (the PPP’s) Faizal Jafferally and Zulficar Mustapha as being a part of the AFC (and) out of passion (anger) I joined the party,” he explained.
According to Ramayya, he was given a job as the Regional Executive Officer in Region 6, (East Berbice/Corentyne) but he did not receive the required support from the APNU+AFC government. In August 2016, he resigned from his position and he also quit the AFC.
Ramayya said he believes that the coalition government betrayed the people since promises made during the election campaign were not kept.
“I have never seen an economy (deteriorate like this) in 18 months. If the estates close in Berbice it would be worse. We are going to suffer. Every day you hearing about the taxes but the people are not getting the jobs,” he asserted.
“I tell you in all honesty if push comes to shove I will endorse the PPP and fight for the working class people. “I will go back with the PPP. I am not a member. I am an independent man but my heart is in the PPP.”
He stressed that he parted ways with the AFC since he was not in agreement with the formation of the coalition; a move he also views as a breach of trust and confidence of supporters of the AFC.
At the conclusion of yesterday’s memorial not only did Jagdeo show that he was leading by example when he hugged Ramayya, but former President Donald Ramotar and Executives Mustapha and Anil Nandall also fondly chatted with him.
In September 2016, Ramayya quit the AFC for a second time as “he got tired” of the way problems reported to senior government officials were handled.
In August 2015 he initially left the party after charging that Berbicians were not adequately represented in the coalition government that the AFC was a part of. He was subsequently offered the post of REO of Region Six and accepted it.
Ramayya started his political career in the1960s.
