Insisting that he did not know beforehand that Charrandass Persaud would defect and vote for the opposition’s no-confidence motion against the government, PPP member Peter Ramsaroop yesterday said that he agreed to facilitate the former MP’s safe exit from the country because of their close friendship.
“Charrandass is my friend and I didn’t even know if he was going to vote yes or not. He just said to me `if I decide to vote…would you help me with security’ and I said `absolutely yes…’,” Ramsaroop, a businessman told reporters shortly after a press conference hosted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had ended. Ramsaroop, along with several opposition MPs, were present at the press conference which was held at Jagdeo’s Church Street office.
On December 21, Ramsaroop, who was sitting behind Persaud, lifted his fist in a victory gesture when the then government MP voted in favour of the motion which triggered the fall of the government. He stayed close to Persaud after the vote had ended and they left Parliament Buildings via the back entrance in the same vehicle. It was later revealed that Ramsaroop had obtained a protocol pass the following day at the Eugene F. Correia International Air-port and accompanied Persaud to the airplane which was heading to Barbados. A Canadian diplomat was also in their company.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has since stopped the issuance of such passes.
Yesterday, Ramsaroop accepted that he did request a pass and stressed that he did so on his own while denying that he was in the company of the Canadian official who was also issued a protocol pass.
“I requested a pass and I got a pass. I went in as Peter Ramsaroop (and) requested a pass. I was with Mr Charrandass. I wasn’t with any other party. My responsibility, if you saw in all the videos…I stood right next to him. I walked with him. I requested a pass on his behalf to get him to the airplane,” he said. Persaud is presently in Canada. He is a citizen of that country.
Ramsaroop reminded that he has already issued a statement on his role in Persaud’s exit, an issue which has been reported in the media.
On Sunday, in a statement to this newspaper, Ramsaroop said that “On the 21st day of December, by request of Mr Charrandass, I accompanied him to the Eugene Correia Airport and I immediately sought permission from the Airport manager to aid the safety of Mr Charrandass until he was safely on the aircraft. Mr Charrandass was exceedingly fearful for his life as subsequent to voting ‘yes’ in favour of the no confidence motion brought against the Government, he was assaulted in Parliament by a member of the APNU Government and told by another member of APNU Government, ‘Charrandass, you gon dead tonight’.”
“It is with sadness that I read that the APNU PNC Government is quick to question how I accompanied Mr Charrandass to the plane but with the same quickness they fail to question why their members of Parliament behaved like thugs and thereafter why those thugs are not charged for assault or threatening behaviour or threatening language. Given our history …Mr Charrandass felt that he may have been assassinated that night because he voted against the APNU PNC Govern-ment who he believed are … heartless, incompetent and unfit and improper to govern Guyana. I and the PPP will not be intimidated by the APNU/AFC Government who despite losing the ‘no confidence motion’, continue to act like tyrants we remember them to be as they refuse to demit office and set a date for elections as the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana mandates,” he added.
Assertions
The former PNCR member yesterday dismissed assertions that he may have betrayed Jagdeo and the PPP by failing to disclose that Persaud would vote in favour of the motion. “Absolutely not,” he said when asked if his silence was an act of betrayal.
He maintained that he had no prior indication that Persaud would vote `yes’ and insisted that he was in the House “just in case.”
Ramsaroop also made it clear that he did not feel that it was unwise to support Persaud given their support for different political parties. “Absolutely not! He is my friend…I (would) do that for anyone. If somebody ask for my help and they are my friend, I don’t have to tell a single soul and I did that.”
He later insisted that he has done nothing wrong. “I did it, it is my friend and I would do it for any one of my friends. If they asked for my help, I will do that,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo during the press conference made statements akin to Ramsaroop’s and said that despite what has happened, he will remain a member of the party.
“He is free to have friends from the PNC, from AFC, WPA and any other Guyanese for that matter,” he said adding that he was unaware that Ramsaroop was providing security assistance to Persaud. He reiterated that he was also unaware that the former MP was likely to vote in favour of the motion. “No, he did not and as I said before, Peter Ramsaroop is free to have friends wherever he wants,” he stressed.
He also dismissed apparent attempts to “stir up” trouble by making an issue out of Ramsaroop’s role in Persaud’s exit.
“I believe it is trying to stir up an issue when nothing exist. This is the typical thing for APNU behaviour because Peter Ramsaroop acted in a capacity as an individual, not as a member of the People’s Progressive Party. He did not receive an instruction from the PPP nor did he report or seek permission from the PPP for his relationship with Charrandas or any other member of the Parliament or anyone else or what took place on that night. It is as clear as day light and we have said it a hundred, a million times,” he said, while insisting that the party will not distance itself from people because they have friends among other races or parties. “That is what we are trying to encourage, better relationship across politics,” he said.
Jagdeo reminded that Ramsaroop was on the party’s list of candidates in 2015 and most likely will be on the list again for the next elections. “He’s been in the forefront. He advises me on economic issues…So his presence in the National Assembly, you should ask him about that…Peter is free to be friend with Charrandas and also be a member of the PPP. Charrandass has lots of friends on our side and we have lots of friends on APNU side…There are lots of people who have friendships across the political spectrum and this is not unusual,” he said before reiterating that Persaud was given no inducement to vote in the manner that he did.
