Selection of PM candidate not a priority – PPP/C

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Clement Rohee has said that the revelation of the name of the Prime

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

Ministerial Candidate for the party was not a constitutional mandate and was not a top priority at this time.
In fact, having a running mate for the President for the upcoming general and regional elections is nowhere in the party’s constitution. The Party’s general secretary over time has had to respond to enquiries from the media at several of his press briefings about the identity of the Prime Ministerial Candidate for the PPP, more particularly after President Donald Ramotar had declared that Regional and General Elections could be held by the end of the first quarter of 2015.
But at his most recent press briefing on Monday, the GS told reporters that having a Prime Ministerial Candidate was not something that must be had. “I have said this before that when the time comes, I will announce. It is not constitutional to have a Prime Ministerial Candidate or a running mate for the President; those things are not in our constitution. It is not something that you have to do in fulfilment of your elections obligations. It is just a culture that has been developed for some people. Some may look forward for the naming of this person, but this will happen when the time comes.”

“Wait and see”
“I said before that we will not allow ourselves to be media driven on these matters. Let’s wait and see. The party takes its time in these matters because whatever decision it makes, it will have to live with. And so decision making at the leadership level has to be taken very seriously.”
While there have been hints that two PPP Members of Parliament (MPs) have been singled out to run with the Head of State, this was never confirmed by the Party’s General Secretary. Sources say that Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and junior Finance Minister Bishop Juan Edghill are the proposed candidates.
Rodrigues-Birkett has, however, already denied knowledge of such a plan, declaring that she was settled and comfortable in her portfolio.  “I don’t know…. We haven’t gotten to that level. Things happen on a daily basis; those kinds of decisions are not the ones you make by yourself, you have to think about a lot of things … right now I am having a good time running the Foreign Ministry and I must say I have a team of very good people working here, and it is a real pleasure representing this country called Guyana. I have never sought anything else in all of my various portfolios,” she had told reporters last week.