The PPP/C has to move on without former president Bharrat Jagdeo if it is to ever recapture its former political prestige, PPP/C candidate Clinton Urling says but former party stalwart Ralph Ramkarran says that Jagdeo is not one to sit on the sidelines and he has called on disaffected former and current members to form a new political party.

Jagdeo has been blamed for the PPP/C loss at the May 11 general elections which was won by the APNU+AFC coalition. In a letter published in yesterday’s Sunday Stabroek, Urling said that it will be a difficult task for the party to change if it continues on the current path with Jagdeo as de facto leader. Moreover, it would be difficult to attract, and in his case retain, the type of people who can help reinvent the party, Urling, who joined the party’s campaign several weeks before the elections, wrote.

“Plainly stated, the party has to move on without Jagdeo if it is to ever recapture its former political prestige,” he asserted.

Ramkarran, in his Sunday Stabroek column, said that the PPP can now only be saved by external pressure. “There is, and unlikely to be, any internal movement for reform because of the stranglehold on the leadership described above,” he said referring to Jagdeo’s domination of the party.

“It is, therefore, now incumbent on the many members and former members of the PPP who have become disaffected or displaced, who have been forced into inactivity, but who disagree and agonize over the path taken by the PPP and wish to see reforms, to establish a new political party devoted to the ideals of Cheddi Jagan,” he wrote.

“Such a party will aim primarily at winning over supporters of the PPP and gaining seats in the National Assembly at the next elections. The objective is to deprive the PPP of the possibility of gaining an absolute majority. This will provide leverage for reforms to restore policies of ‘winner does not take all,’ shared governance by way of coalition arrangements, a political solution to Guyana’s problems and national unity,” Ramkarran asserted.

 Central figure

Urling, recalling his experience on the party’s campaign trail said that by the time he joined the campaign, it was obvious that Jagdeo was the party’s central figure and one easily got the sense that he was the man leading most, if not all, the party’s political and campaign strategies. “From this observation, I believed this election for the PPP/C was ‘Jagdeo’s’ to win or lose considering the central role he played in the campaign and in formulating its strategies,” he said.

“After the party lost the elections, many in the party seemed to be at a loss about the party’s direction and the apparatus literally stopped functioning for a day or two after the elections, coupled with an information blackout. The Freedom House party headquarters was a ghost town and little was being told to any party candidate or supporter,” Urling wrote.

According to the businessman, during this time, many party members, junior or senior, reflected on why the party lost, ready to put the blame squarely on Jagdeo’s shoulders. “There was no place where I turned that I did not hear party members and supporters whisper and angrily criticize Jagdeo’s divisive campaign rhetoric. The general belief was that under his presidency the party lost its way from being a “wholesome” political organisation which attracted many friends and allies to becoming one where perceptions of impropriety and corruption had created ominous clouds over the party’s image,” he asserted.

Urling said that for many within the party, while the loss was disappointing it also presented an opportunity for rebirth, redemption and change in the way in which the party operates. “It justifiably should have been the start of a complete break from the politics of Jagdeo and his loyal circle within the

PPP. The election loss engendered paradoxical feelings of being dejected but yet hopeful simultaneously,” he said.

“Unfortunately, this never happened. Instead, Jagdeo took charge of the party, insistent on shaping the post-elections narrative and was firmly back in command,” he wrote.

According to Urling, this did not – and still does not – go down well with many members. “Many whisper behind his back or choose their words carefully when addressing any forum where he has been included, but none would dare say to him directly how they felt. As I write this, the displeasure that he is still firmly in charge of the party does not sit well with many. However, for reasons I still cannot comprehend, many are reluctant to call him out and challenge him visibly or publicly,” Urling asserted.

He declared that the PPP/C has to move on without Jagdeo if it is to ever recapture its former political prestige.

 Traction

Meantime, Ramkarran highlighted Jagdeo’s domination of the PPP. He said that after the Jagdeo leadership gained traction, voting after discussions ceased and the former president summed up all discussions and the summing up, containing his views, was the decision. “He still does so. Elections at and after Congress began to be grossly manipulated. Both Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo publicly opposed the 2011 presidential candidate being elected by secret ballot,” he wrote.

Ramkarran said that broad discussions continue to take place on matters of political strategy but members of the leadership instinctively know how far to go. “For example, no discussion has taken place on a coalition government because the leadership clique was opposed to it. Dissenting opinions on major issues in which Jagdeo has an interest were so frowned upon that there is a large dose of self-censorship. Anyone who attempted to raise a matter of consequence, such as corruption or the supply of drugs, risked incurring Jagdeo’s wrath. That was something to be feared, as he was their employer,” he said.

“All leaders of the PPP still defer to Bharrat Jagdeo. No one questions his analyses and none would dare raise his domineering role in government, in the party or in the election campaign.

His lead role in the campaign, which is privately criticized by most PPP leaders, as it was in 2011, signals his return to the hustings after a hiatus over the past three years during which he was busy assisting in the affairs of state and enjoying the perks of retirement and international travel,” Ramkarran said.

According to Ramkarran, Jagdeo’s current activism is also propelled by his compelling addiction to the limelight, his belief in his own genius and dissatisfaction with the performance of Ramotar.

The former Speaker of the National Assembly pointed out too that Ramotar has never made good on his private pre-2011 election promise to many who had raised concerns about Jagdeo’s attitude and behaviour that “things will change” after elections. Probably realizing subsequently that he needs Jagdeo’s help, he has allowed the latter’s power to remain intact, he observed.

Ramkarran said that Jagdeo is not one to sit on the sidelines. “If he returns to Parliament, even if he does not become Opposition Leader, it would be a signal that his political ascendancy in the PPP is assured. Thereafter it would only be a matter of time before he eases out Ramotar and (PPP General Secretary Clement) Rohee, who are both in their mid-60s, ‘old’ in Jagdeo’s eyes, while he is in his early 50s. Even if he is not in Parliament, his toxicity notwithstanding, his tenure will continue, being seen now as the main Indian ethnic leader of a party that has lost its political and moral compass,” Ramkarran said.

Ramkarran said that the PPP’s only hope is that the APNU+AFC coalition fails the people and loses its slim lead. “But with APNU+AFC’s knowledge of what not to do, constitutional reform, efforts to implement its other electoral promises and going after the Amerindian vote, the possibility of the PPP returning to political office in the near future, under a leadership and policies which have failed twice, looks bleak. Attrition of the same young people, who have livelihood and family responsibilities, and who will face the impotency of the PPP’s current postures, will also eventually take its toll,” he said.