…PPP/C arriving at “consensus position” – Rohee

By Michael Younge

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo could become Guyana’s next Opposition Leader and Chief Parliamentary Spokesperson for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the 11th Parliament, if he accepts a mandate from the Party to serve at this level following the 2015 General and Regional Elections. Jagdeo is seen as the most suitable candidate from a lineup of about five to lead the Party at this historical conjuncture for its upcoming stint in the Opposition after it was narrowly defeated by the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change coalition on May 11 at the polls. The PPP/C has filed an elections petition in the High Court to question the declaration of the election result by the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission. Speaking with the Guyana Times during an exclusive interview on Thursday, PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee said that the Party had embarked on what he described as “wide ranging discussions” and consultations across the country and within its membership. “We have had robust and healthy discussions as result of those consultations at the level of the leadership of the party because now that we are in the Opposition, it behooves us to put these appointments to rest,” Rohee remarked. “On the question of the Opposition Leader, we have basically settled on that…it is a consensus or I should say near consensus decision on the person to be the leader of the Opposition,” Rohee advised. Asked specifically about Jagdeo’s selection, Rohee held out that a final decision has not been arrived at but Jagdeo appeared to be a clear front runner for the post. “Mr Jagdeo has been considered. Mr Jagdeo is one of the strong contenders, but I will prefer us to await us taking up our seats in the National Assembly in order for us to reveal what we have come up with…,” a discreet Rohee stated.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

Rohee’s utterances will no doubt act as a red flag to sections of the media and pro-government politicians who have been firm in their criticisms of Jagdeo’s connection to the PPP/C and the future of the Party. Asked whether he felt Jagdeo was bad for the PPP/C given the school of thought which suggests that the reason the party lost the 2015 was because of Jagdeo’s posture on the campaign trail and legacy while in office, Rohee responded in the negative. “I reject that outrightly. I believe Mr Jagdeo is more of a positive than a negative within the Party and outside of the Party and in the country as a whole,” he said quickly.

Influence vs control In fact, the General Secretary mounted a strong defence of Jagdeo’s contributions to the PPP/C as both an Executive, former President and grassroots strategist. “I have been to every single rally and a number of grand public meetings during the campaign and I have seen how the crowd has reacted to him. I have seen how the crowd has reacted to Mr Ramotar, our Presidential Candidate. And I have seen how the crowd has reacted to many other candidates depending on the area where the meetings and rallies were held…,” Rohee advised.  He then concluded flatly, “Jagdeo is overwhelmingly more an asset than a liability and I reject completely the view by the anti-Jagdeoites that he controls the PPP/C.” Rohee held the view that Jagdeo would have to be a very “powerful man” to be able to control and direct without question the entire PPP/C machinery and all of its members across the country. “So when you talking about control, I would make a distinction between control and influence…He has influence in the policies and decision making processes in the Party just like every other member, Executive and the Central Committee”, he noted. According to Rohee, who was appointed General Secretary back in 2013 following the PPP/C’s 30th Congress, Jagdeo sits there in these two bodies (Central and Executive Community) and makes his contributions like everybody else and depending on the logic of arguments, force of arguments, the scientific strength/basis of the analysis put forward. “Comrades draw their own conclusions and decide whose view they support and whose view they do not support,” he argued.

Sticking with Jagan, Jagdeo

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

Rohee said he understood the domestic and internal politics of the PPP/C and Guyana as a whole, and so he was not taken back by those who wanted to vilify attack and destroy Jagdeo’s reputation in order to force him out of the Party’s leadership. He recalled that the period when the PPP/C was founded in 1950 and as the Party developed historically and rendered its way through history to where it ended with Dr Jagan becoming the President in 1992. “Through the entire process of the formation of the PPP/C save and except for the early stages….let’s say 1950 to 1957…there was no ‘bogie’ that was used against Dr Jagan as a national leader,” Rohee opined as he used history to drive home his point. He said that the split which took place in 1955 and resulted in two PPP/C’s going the polls in 1957 headed by Dr Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. “And then later on, after Burnham suffered a defeat at the polls, they then created the PNC (People’s National Congress)…now that was the time from ‘57 to ‘64 and even later when the communist ‘bogie’ was created as a result of the cold war. Dr Jagan was seen as the communist ogre in Guyana…the monster…and he was painted in a particular light in the country and inside the Party…” Rohee recalled further. He said that “what we are living through now is what we lived through then…certain media houses like the Daily Chronicle, and the Evening Post that carried a strong anti-communist line against the PPP and Jagan, in the same way that they are carrying a strong anti-Jagdeo line against Jagdeo painting him as the evil monster inside Guyana and inside the PPP.” He said those who criticize Jagan then obviously wanted to create divisions within the PPP. “In the PPP they were saying that the best thing to save the PPP was to get rid of the communist Jagan within the PPP….I am not saying that there are not some in the PPP…a very small minority in the PPP that might be saying that Jagdeo is not someone in the best interest in the party. But I will be naive to say that this not the view of a small group within the party…but be that as it may…the point that I making is that the same way they painted Jagan…the same way they are painting Jagdeo”, he insisted. He said that the Party has learnt many lessons from these historical occurrences as he stood firm that “Jagdeo’s contributions like many others helped to win the 2015 Elections.”

Rohee said that the PPP/C is likely to stick with Jagdeo and its group of democratically elected leaders just as it stuck with Dr Jagan until he became President on the tide of free and fair elections. On 8 August 1999, Janet Jagan announced that she was resigning as President for health reasons, and that Jagdeo would be her successor. Because the Prime Minister is the President’s legal successor, Jagdeo took office as Prime Minister on 9 August, so that he would be positioned to succeed Jagan. He was then sworn in as President on 11 August. At age 35, he was one of the youngest Heads of State in the world. Jagdeo was re-elected for another five-year term on 28 August 2006, with the PPP/C garnering 54.6 per cent of the votes. It expanded its majority, by two, to 36 seats in the 65-member Parliament. He was sworn in for another term on 2 September. At the PPP/C’s 29th Congress, Jagdeo received the highest number of votes (777) in the election to the Party’s Central Committee held on August 2, 2008. He was then elected to the PPP/C Executive Committee on August 12, 2008. In late 2011, his term of office officially came to an end as a result of the term limit amendment to the Constitution, piloted by his Government, and signed into law by himself, which created a two-term limit for anyone elected President after the year 2000. He was succeeded by the PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Donald Ramotar who was elected President after the November 28, 2011 General Elections. Under the Constitution, President Jagdeo’s term officially ended on December 3, 2011 after President-Elect Ramotar took the Presidential Oath of Office.