Could Joey Jagan be lying?
November 2, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters
Dear Editor,
Permit me to respond to some remarks reportedly uttered by Dr. Joey Jagan at a PPP election rally at Port Mourant last Sunday, (“PPP/AFC trade verbal blows on the Corentyne,” KN, October 31).
In reference to an oft-repeated claim attributed to the AFC’s Mr. Moses Nagamootoo that the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan identified him more than once as a successor to lead the PPP should the founders pass on, Dr. Joey reportedly accused Mr. Nagamootoo of lying.
Dr. Joey further intimated that he was present when his father authorized his mother, the late Janet Jagan, to take over the reins of the party and, in effect, oversight of the government. In this context, he may be right, but the context in which Mr. Nagamootoo allegedly spoke was related to Dr. Jagan identifying him to others while traveling throughout Guyana.
Before he was airlifted out of Guyana for emergency heart surgery, and in accordance with the constitution, Dr. Jagan ceded leadership of the government to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, so why didn’t he do the same thing in the PPP? Why was there never an internal party election to identify a successor to Dr. Jagan?
This would have avoided Mrs. Jagan returning to Guyana with a note she said Dr. Jagan purportedly scribbled ceding authority over the party and the government to her. If anything, the note reflected a death bed decision that was predicated on a poor leadership succession plan, but it still does not negate the authenticity of Mr. Nagamootoo’s claim that Dr. Jagan identified him as a successor. The mechanism just was not there to facilitate this promise.
Mrs. Jagan and Dr. Joey may be telling us the truth about the scribbled note, but is it not possible that Mrs. Jagan and her son, Dr. Joey, have lied to us? I am not saying they lied; I am just asking!
My reason for asking this is centered on the fact that after Dr. Jagan died, it was Dr. Joey who went on a rant via letters published in the local dailies that a Gang of 8 had hijacked his father’s party and was taking it down a path different from the one his fathered intended. Can anyone remember those angry letters? Okay then.
Now, if Dr. Joey was present when his father ceded leadership of the party to his mother, then why would he then turn around and accuse a Gang of 8 of hijacking his father’s party? No one could have hijacked the PPP with Mrs. Jagan as party leader, which means Mrs. Jagan was part of the Gang of 8.
Mrs. Jagan is dead, so she can’t clarify or defend herself, but Dr. Joey is the one who is alive and enlightening us about what happened on his father’s death bed while calling Mr. Nagamootoo a liar for saying Dr. Jagan promised to make Mr. Nagamootoo a successor of the PPP leadership.
But what exactly is inspiring Dr. Joey to suddenly go on the offensive against Mr. Nagamootoo who never said or wrote a bad word publicly about Dr. Joey? Before last Sunday, Dr. Joey reportedly lashed out at Mr. Nagamootoo for quitting the PPP and joining the AFC, but said nothing about his own departure from the PPP to launch the Guyana United Party (GUP). The gall of some folks, eh!
Then on Sunday, he reportedly said, “No party in the world is perfect. Rome was not built in a day. We must be patient and understanding.” Wow! Is it not amazing how he can wax philosophical while urging patience and understanding, but never applied this philosophical exhortation to himself as he quit his father’s party because it was hijacked by a Gang of 8 and became incredibly corrupt and even tied to the underworld in Guyana?
I believe Dr. Joey’s return to the PPP on the same day Mr. Nagamootoo joined the AFC had more to do with his oft-stated hatred of the AFC, which party he felt could siphon votes from the PPP now that Mr. Nagamootoo has jumped ship. I also predicted that wherever Mr. Nagamootoo showed up as a speaker on the AFC platform that Dr. Joey will be in close proximity to counter.
I also believe that he supports a national unity government, but that the PPP should always play the dominant role. However, the key to any unity government featuring the PPP involves a Herculean task of freeing the PPP from the Gang of Seven hijackers, now that one is dead.
In closing, he reportedly said PPP presidential candidate Mr. Donald Ramotar will ‘reverse’ the corruption and change the direction of the PPP and its government. This is an admission that he and Mr. Ramotar recognize the humongous error the PPP made when it settled on the Jagdeo presidency.
But Mr. Ramotar was right there all the time and he said or did nothing, so why should we expect him to ‘reverse’ and change anything? I will say this much: If the people do vote for Mr. Ramotar, I will be open to him as I was to Dr. Jagan in 1992 and President Jagdeo in 1999, and hope he can redeem himself.
Until then, the PPP has to be feeling the pressure from its support base given its failure to be an effective representative, and no matter what Dr. Joey says on the PPP platform, the appearance of two former PPP stalwarts on the AFC platform has to be making tsunami-type waves in traditional PPP strongholds and causing Freedom House and Office of the President restless moments.
Emile Mervin
November 2, 2011 | By KNews | Filed Under Letters
Dear Editor,
Permit me to respond to some remarks reportedly uttered by Dr. Joey Jagan at a PPP election rally at Port Mourant last Sunday, (“PPP/AFC trade verbal blows on the Corentyne,” KN, October 31).
In reference to an oft-repeated claim attributed to the AFC’s Mr. Moses Nagamootoo that the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan identified him more than once as a successor to lead the PPP should the founders pass on, Dr. Joey reportedly accused Mr. Nagamootoo of lying.
Dr. Joey further intimated that he was present when his father authorized his mother, the late Janet Jagan, to take over the reins of the party and, in effect, oversight of the government. In this context, he may be right, but the context in which Mr. Nagamootoo allegedly spoke was related to Dr. Jagan identifying him to others while traveling throughout Guyana.
Before he was airlifted out of Guyana for emergency heart surgery, and in accordance with the constitution, Dr. Jagan ceded leadership of the government to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, so why didn’t he do the same thing in the PPP? Why was there never an internal party election to identify a successor to Dr. Jagan?
This would have avoided Mrs. Jagan returning to Guyana with a note she said Dr. Jagan purportedly scribbled ceding authority over the party and the government to her. If anything, the note reflected a death bed decision that was predicated on a poor leadership succession plan, but it still does not negate the authenticity of Mr. Nagamootoo’s claim that Dr. Jagan identified him as a successor. The mechanism just was not there to facilitate this promise.
Mrs. Jagan and Dr. Joey may be telling us the truth about the scribbled note, but is it not possible that Mrs. Jagan and her son, Dr. Joey, have lied to us? I am not saying they lied; I am just asking!
My reason for asking this is centered on the fact that after Dr. Jagan died, it was Dr. Joey who went on a rant via letters published in the local dailies that a Gang of 8 had hijacked his father’s party and was taking it down a path different from the one his fathered intended. Can anyone remember those angry letters? Okay then.
Now, if Dr. Joey was present when his father ceded leadership of the party to his mother, then why would he then turn around and accuse a Gang of 8 of hijacking his father’s party? No one could have hijacked the PPP with Mrs. Jagan as party leader, which means Mrs. Jagan was part of the Gang of 8.
Mrs. Jagan is dead, so she can’t clarify or defend herself, but Dr. Joey is the one who is alive and enlightening us about what happened on his father’s death bed while calling Mr. Nagamootoo a liar for saying Dr. Jagan promised to make Mr. Nagamootoo a successor of the PPP leadership.
But what exactly is inspiring Dr. Joey to suddenly go on the offensive against Mr. Nagamootoo who never said or wrote a bad word publicly about Dr. Joey? Before last Sunday, Dr. Joey reportedly lashed out at Mr. Nagamootoo for quitting the PPP and joining the AFC, but said nothing about his own departure from the PPP to launch the Guyana United Party (GUP). The gall of some folks, eh!
Then on Sunday, he reportedly said, “No party in the world is perfect. Rome was not built in a day. We must be patient and understanding.” Wow! Is it not amazing how he can wax philosophical while urging patience and understanding, but never applied this philosophical exhortation to himself as he quit his father’s party because it was hijacked by a Gang of 8 and became incredibly corrupt and even tied to the underworld in Guyana?
I believe Dr. Joey’s return to the PPP on the same day Mr. Nagamootoo joined the AFC had more to do with his oft-stated hatred of the AFC, which party he felt could siphon votes from the PPP now that Mr. Nagamootoo has jumped ship. I also predicted that wherever Mr. Nagamootoo showed up as a speaker on the AFC platform that Dr. Joey will be in close proximity to counter.
I also believe that he supports a national unity government, but that the PPP should always play the dominant role. However, the key to any unity government featuring the PPP involves a Herculean task of freeing the PPP from the Gang of Seven hijackers, now that one is dead.
In closing, he reportedly said PPP presidential candidate Mr. Donald Ramotar will ‘reverse’ the corruption and change the direction of the PPP and its government. This is an admission that he and Mr. Ramotar recognize the humongous error the PPP made when it settled on the Jagdeo presidency.
But Mr. Ramotar was right there all the time and he said or did nothing, so why should we expect him to ‘reverse’ and change anything? I will say this much: If the people do vote for Mr. Ramotar, I will be open to him as I was to Dr. Jagan in 1992 and President Jagdeo in 1999, and hope he can redeem himself.
Until then, the PPP has to be feeling the pressure from its support base given its failure to be an effective representative, and no matter what Dr. Joey says on the PPP platform, the appearance of two former PPP stalwarts on the AFC platform has to be making tsunami-type waves in traditional PPP strongholds and causing Freedom House and Office of the President restless moments.
Emile Mervin