The Brown Paper Bag:
No Love for Donald
Every week,
you will be given a peak into
The Brown Paper Bag of Guyanese life...
this week we find out that "a few months ago,
just before the elections,
a friend in the PPP had warned
that Guyana will see
“The Return of the Bharrat”
and it will mark the end
of the political life of
“The Donald”.
If there was any doubt that the
Donald Ramotar Presidency of three years
was just a plaster for
the bigger bandage in the background,
then the last week of budget debates
has put all of those doubts to rest.
The PPP took its 32 seats
on the Opposition side of parliament on Monday,
that’s three months after the elections.
They wanted to talk budget and
so they went in there to join the budget debate.
This was their time to call out the new government
on some of the issues they are concerned about
and even on issues that have nothing to do
with the budget, governance or the new government.
A few months ago, just before the elections,
a friend in the PPP had warned that
Guyana will see “The Return of the Bharrat”
and it will mark
the end of the political life of
“The Donald”.
So last Monday,
The Bharrat decided to return
to the National Assembly as a member.
He had not been there since 1999
when he became President.
The PPP wanted to make an entrance
and they did just that.
The Bharrat pulled up,
handed over his bag to one Member of Parliament
and his books and documents to another.
These were his new fetching boys,
least for the day,
and so he started the stride into the National Assembly.
The Arrival (Stabroek News photo)
With a smirk of importance but a beaten up spirit,
Jagdeo made long strides into the Parliament buildings
and gazed around on the outside
as if he was a schoolboy now on tour for the first time.
He appeared lost and out of his zone
but it was the smirk of importance
that kept him going.
Cheers erupted with chants of
“Jagdeo” and “we leader”
as The Bharrat entered the House.
The cheers were coming from
his fellow opposition members.
Reality soon set in
as they took their oath of office
and found themselves
comfortably seated in the Opposition chairs.
Moments later,
Jagdeo and the rest of the crew
retreated to make him Opposition Leader
and it was the fastest elections ever,
Steve Surujubally would be jealous.
In less than 15 minutes,
The Bharrat emerged
out of the Committees room
as Opposition Leader
and started to give press interviews
to Moseley, Chabrol and the rest of the press
he once called Carrion Crows.
So he found himself
surrounded by the “Carrion crows”
as they picked him apart with questions.
The bell rang,
the interviews ended and the budget debates began.
Young star Irfaan Ali became the first speaker
from his side to offer a response for the budget
and it was here
that this Brown Paper Bag
realized Donald
might have been
well lathered with the grease.
Irfaan spoke for about 30 minutes,
too much time to be rambling,
but in that 30 minutes,
this young man who became a Minister of Housing
as well as a Minister of Tourism
at the same time under Donald Ramotar,
never once mentioned the name “Donald”.
He spoke about the PPP and
the great leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
Opposition Member of Parliament,
Irfaan Ali
Donald was not in parliament
and he was not missed,
not even by his own party members.
At first, I thought this was just an oversight
but the trend continued
as 30 of the 32 speakers (including Jagdeo),
rose to their feet and never mentioned
the Donald Ramotar presidency,
accomplishments of that Presidency
or even offered the man a bit of thanks
as the Head of their electoral list.
Donald appeared persona non grata
in his own house.
No Love was being shown for him.
In contrast, the members jumped up and down
and showered The Bharrat with so much praise,
it would make one forget
that they were kneeling before a man
who as President
oversaw some of the worst killings,
drug runnings and
victimization that Guyana has ever seen.
This was no Prince of Peace,
but his loyal followers
certainly treated him that way.
Even The Great Gail told the press
that The Bharrat is back and
she knows that the government
“frighten the man bad”.
As all of that was happening
for an entire week and
30 speakers had nothing to say
about their last president
and the man who would have been president
if they did not lose the elections,
I wondered where was Donald.
Gail and Clement
Many mornings when I walk down Robb street,
I would notice his big black land cruiser
parked early in front of Freedom House.
The Bharrat has one too,
but he is never early for anything.
The ignoring of Donald Ramotar
by his own party comrades
during the budget debate
confirmed that within the walls of Freedom House,
there was still a house divided.
That house started to show cracks
just after Donald became President in 2011.
Jagdeo would still walk in to Office of the President
with as many security and cars waiting as the new President
and he would give out instructions to everyone
as The Donald would sit there and nod
in agreement
even if there was nothing for him to agree.
That continued for the past three years
as Jagdeo traveled abroad
claiming to represent Guyana
at meetings for the government
although he had no confirmed government role.
Jagdeo never left office.
He merely had a time-keeper in place.
When the PPP government
and the then opposition were having problems in 2014,
Donald allowed Jagdeo
from the background to dictate to him
what he should and should not do.
Many in the party did not like the approach
but like a good girl guides battalion,
they sat and kept quiet with cookies in hand.
My friends in the PPP said
Jagdeo wanted fresh elections
because he thought
that even as he stood in the background,
Donald was not listening.
The elections date was set,
Donald was chosen as Presidential Candidate
with Elisabeth Harper as Prime Minister Candidate
and Uncle Sam sent into retirement.
Keep your friends close…
But lurking around the corridors of Freedom House
was The Bharrat and he inserted himself daily
and so it came as no surprise
when his name appeared
on the party’s list as a candidate.
This was a regular candidate
with extraordinary power
and he threw it around
much to the annoyance of some Donald loyalists
including the younger Ramotar, Alexie,
who felt that his father was being shoved
into the shadows of Jagdeo.
That may have been the smartest thing to cross the mind of the younger Ramotar in all his life.
He was right and many others shared his view
but preferred the girl guides posture.
Throughout the campaign, Jagdeo asserted himself more.
He called his own press conference,
hired his own press relations’ team
and courted members of the party to be at his side
and make him opposition leader
if they were to lose the elections.
The elections came and they lost
and on one gloomy day on Robb Street,
a beaten and tired Donald was beaten up further
as the party unanimously
chose Jagdeo over him
to be their Leader of the Opposition.
Donald could not muster
a single vote in the executive committee.
The same people, who voted unanimously
to make him their Presidential Candidate in 2011,
were now against him
and his way of doing business.
To them, he was a failure
and many of them whispered the feeling
during their coffee chats outside of Freedom House.
Many in the PPP were not happy
because although Donald did not win the elections,
he led the party to its greatest elections vote gain since 1992.
Every other year,
the party’s votes were going down until this last May.
Jagdeo took the credit
and believes he was the one who did that.
The protests came and Jagdeo was always a no-show,
even as Donald with badly written placard in hand
joined his fellow party members for the short struggle
against the elections.
But Jagdeo still wanted Donald to be part of the parliament.
After all, he was the last Presidential Candidate
and it would mark the first time
that a former Presidential Candidate
for a losing party in Guyana
would not take up a seat in the parliament.
Some of the same people who voted against Donald,
now wanted him to sit with them
but not at the head of the table,
a little down after Rohee and Gail.
He would have none of it
and decided against taking up that seat.
His PM Candidate, Lis Harper,
had psychic vision and knew what was coming
and so she hurried away from the PPP
because she thought they were a band of people
without principles now being led
by a man who would be opposing
for opposing sake.
Dejected
And so Donald found himself getting no love.
He had already given up
the General Secretary spot to Clement Rohee.
So although he remains in the PPP at the highest level,
he was now a man without belonging.
No longer President,
no longer General Secretary
and not good enough to be opposition leader.
During the 2011 campaign,
it was Rupert Roopnarine who coined the
“No Place for Donald” chant.
Donald was now, not only without a place,
but also without any love.
