Robert Persaud, PPP/C could part ways

… members concerned over his utterances, posture

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) could part ways with long standing member and former two-time Government Minister Robert Persaud, amid concerns raised by other senior members about his posture towards the party and several utterances he has made in the past which would have impacted the party in some way or the other.

Additionally, Persaud has already written the party at least twice indicating his intention to go on a “sabbatical” from the politics of the PPP/C and concerns over various positions, as well as decisions the party has taken in recent times. Confirming

public speculation for years, PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee on Thursday admitted that the party was engaging Persaud on the way forward following the missives he had written to the leadership.

Former Minister Robert Persaud

Asked what role Persaud is playing within the leadership structures of the party since the 2011 General and Regional Elections, Rohee said “well he is not really playing a role right now”. The General Secretary then reminded Guyana Times that “he did write saying that he is going on a sabbatical from the politics of the Peoples Progressive Party. I have had a long conversation with him when I received that communication and we ended the conversation on a cordial note without any rancour”.

Rohee refused to disclose the contents of the second letter penned by Persaud to the leadership of the party but confirmed that it has been discussed at the level of the Executive. “…. a course of action has been determined as to how to address the contents of the letter”, the General Secretary told this newspaper. Asked if it was okay to say that Persaud and the party had an amicable split, Rohee quickly said, “at this point and time, we remain engaged with the comrade and we are at this point and time continuing that engagement until we reach a point where a decision is made by him one way or another”.

The General Secretary maintained that Persaud, who served as National Resources and Environment Minister under the Donald Ramotar Administration and Agricultural Minister under the Jagdeo Administration, remains a member of the PPP. Rohee also admitted that consideration of the contents of Persaud’s letter has not been fully settled as yet and if such time the content of the letter is settled then the party will proceed further.

Asked if PPP while discussing the contents of Persaud’s letter had accepted his intention to go on a sabbatical from politics and eventually his resignation from the

party, Rohee said “that is a decision Mr Persaud himself will have to make…one comes voluntarily to PPP and one leaves voluntary from the PPP”.

Pressed for more answers, the General Secretary admitted that “…there are a few rare occasions where we will take actions to expel persons from the party but in the case of Robert Persaud, no decision of that nature has been made as yet”. He said “there are individual members of the party who have expressed views on those matters but collectively as an Executive, we have not one way or the other done an assessment as to whether the things he said and did have an impact or non-impact on the politics of the PPP”. Since former President Bharrat Jagdeo demitted office in 2011, Persaud has been slowly curtailing his involvement in the affairs of the party. He has also from time to time hinted his objection to several decisions made by the party in oblique ways via social media. Unlike the election campaigns of 2006 and 2011, Persaud did not campaign for the PPP in 2015 nor did he mount the election platform to assist the party in regaining the reins of Government.

When the party hosted its 30th Congress back in 2013, Robert Persaud was ranked number 11 with 537 votes from the membership who voted which resulted in him being returned to the party’s Central Executive Committee. Persaud  holds an MBA and is the owner of at least two media companies here.