| Ramotar rejects Nagamootoo as ‘intellectually corrupt jack-ass’ …defends Brassington against vicious, nasty opposition attacks |  |  |  |
| Written by Gary Eleazar |
| Monday, 04 March 2013 22:15 |
FORMER Executive Member of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), now vice-Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Mr. Moses Nagamootoo, has been roundly condemned as “intellectually corrupt,” according to Head of State President Donald Ramotar, who has also come out in defence of ‘public servant’ Winston Brassington, himself also the subject of a sustained opposition crusade.  President Donald Ramotar speaking at the 16th death anniversary of Dr Cheddi Jagan at Babu John, Port Mourant, Berbice on Sunday. A vociferous Ramotar told those in attendance that he was extremely bothered by what he calls “vicious attacks” that continue on public servants. “Nasty attacks,” said Ramotar, even as he sought to point out that Brassington is no politician but rather a professional working with the government. Brassington’s role as head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has been under fire from a number of opposition and media quarters in recent months, particularly over the Privatisation Unit, that falls under NICIL.  Winston Brassington Ramotar told those gathered at Babu John on Sunday that the opposition had been invited to a series of debates on the state’s National Communications Network (NCN) to address the allegations of corruption, but they failed miserably. In his defence of Brassington too, the President reminded that he recently caused to be made available to all and sundry, all of the details of all privatisation deals undertaken by the PPP over its 19 years in office. He said that following this disclosure, the Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, was instructed to field a press engagement where he appeared along with Brassington, the purpose of which was to clarify any questions on the deals made. “They had none,” according to the President and suggested that the attacks by the combined opposition were aimed at intimidating professionals  Moses Nagamootoo President Ramotar said too, that the combined opposition was looking to trample on and destroy parliamentary democracy and the Constitution, instead of sanctioning Nagamootoo. Referring to Nagamootoo as “the jack-ass”, he condemned the joint opposition for failing to sanction the AFC vice-chair, for what the President calls “deliberate lies”. Mr. Ramotar recalled that it was during the parliamentary debate on Former Presidents’ Benefits and other Facilities (Amendment) Bill piloted by APNU’s Carl Greenidge, that Nagamootoo lied. “He jump-up like a jack-in-the-box but the Hansard shows that he was a liar.” The President suggested that this is the same man walking about as a crusader against corruption, when he himself is a “corrupt individual, corrupt intellectually and [a] man whom Jagan had to fight” Ramotar disclosed that in the weeks before the most recent election, “Nagamootoo said President or nothing.” Ramotar suggested that when Nagamootoo failed in his bid to get the party’s support for him as presidential candidate, weeks before the election of the PPP party, he went shopping around and the “AFC promised him vice-president and he gone.” The President said that there is no other dishonesty such as ‘intellectual dishonesty and intellectual corruption.” He told party supporters that the leadership has continuously had to try to fight against these things. The President also weighed in on current parliamentary affairs, since the election and said that “today we are seeing an attack on the Parliament…when the Peoples National Congress was in government they misused the Parliament, they stopped it from functioning.” He reminded his audience that Dr Jagan under PNC rule, was himself stopped from speaking for five years in the House, adding that the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, is “in good company…you are in the best of company.” Ramotar said that the party had warned during the campaign in the run-up to the 2011 Elections that “a vote for the AFC, was a vote for the PNC and we see that reality happening now.” Head of State, Ramotar, also used the occasion to thoroughly slam Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, saying that it was not out of the goodness of his heart that he was forced to overturn his own ruling and ungag Minister Rohee in the House. He said that the Commission of Inquiry,“completely, completely exonerated Comrade Rohee from any wrongdoing...indeed the Speaker of the Parliament was forced to rescind his decisions; he didn’t do it from the goodness of the heart, he did it because he had to do it.” President Ramotar said that Trotman had solicited the advice of several lawyers “and they told him he was wrong and he ignored[them]. “He went to the court and the courts said he was wrong and he ignored it again.” Ramotar said that eventually when Trotman was forced to defend his decisions, he was forced to come out and announced: “That they were wrong and we were right and Rohee has a right to speak.”
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| Last Updated on Monday, 04 March 2013 22:17 |
