Anyone thinking of joining the PPP/C must do so without expecting any ministerial or other positions, according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who says no decision has been taken as yet on a Prime Ministerial (PM) candidate for the upcoming general elections.
“Let me make it clear: We are not trading ministries. We will not say ‘You hold on to this one and you hold on this one, this one has a bigger budget….’ The PPP will go into these elections making no commitments,” Jagdeo yesterday told a press conference he hosted at his Church Street, Georgetown office.
“We are working on a platform, a platform that is inclusive,” he added.
Jagdeo’s position came in wake of questions about if the party had decided on former army Chief of Staff Mark Phillips being its PM candidate for the upcoming general elections.
Phillips, according to Jagdeo, was accepted as a member of the Civic component of the opposition because he indicated that he wanted to work to achieve common goals and not because he wanted a specific position.
“Let me say that I have outlined, first of all, a process that we intend to follow in order to select the PM candidate. I made it clear that person will come from the Civic component. I met with Mark Phillips and I said to him that we would welcome him on our team that is going to contest the elections. I believe he is a great person. I know of his skills, in terms of finance and security credentials and I heard about his integrity,” Jagdeo said.
“I made it clear to him… the process we would follow. I don’t know if any of our members will nominate him because members could nominate a person and we will treat each name on its merit and then make a decision. I said we can’t promise anything but there is a space for you in the team,” he added.
Jagdeo said that the “the prime ministership is not the only thing we are looking for” as the party has outlined a plan where it plans to train a large number of persons for various positions, particularly for the oil and gas sector. “We will not be involved with any individual or party for trading positions. He is a patriot too and wants to be part of the team. It is not dependent on that,” he said.
The PPP/C will by next month end address the selection of a running mate for its presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali, at least one month ahead of expected nomination day in January 2020.
“We will address this issue towards the end of November,” Jagdeo said.