Nadira Jagan-Brancier throws support behind PPP/C — urges electorate to vote for the Cup on Monday
MERE days after her brother Joey Jagan endorsed A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Alliance, his sister Nadira Jagan-Brancier is calling on the electorate to vote for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).In a terse letter published in the Stabroek News yesterday, Jagan-Brancier said contrary to rumours, she is not in support of the APNU+AFC Alliance.
“It seems that there have been rumours that the children of Cheddi and Janet Jagan are supporting the APNU+AFC Coalition. I do not!” the daughter of the former presidents said.
Jagan-Brancier in recent years has been frank in her views about the PPP, with her criticism appearing to focus more on certain elements and the direction of the party, rather than the party itself.
In 2012, a few months after the PPP/C had lost the majority in Parliament following the 2011 General and Regional Elections, Jagan-Brancier speaking at a function in remembrance of her parents, made some unflattering comments.
She had said: “It is not enough to go out there and make lovely speeches about who my parents were, what they did and the legacy that we’re carrying on… I think the party has moved away– not the party but certain elements in the party— from these very, very important values that held the party together and what makes the PPP what it is…
“Only way you can follow them is to return to basics, return to who this party is which is the working-class party, obviously you have to support other people, but the base of this party is a working-class party, get back to being a non-corruptible party, so people can’t point a finger and say ‘there is so much corruption, why should we worry? If the leaders don’t show the moral values, then people won’t do it, and your children won’t grow up with moral values.”
APNU+AFC endorsement
A few days ago, her brother Joey, who campaigned for the PPP/C in the 2011 Elections, endorsed the David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo-led APNU+AFC Alliance.
According to him, the country is poorly managed, and while all the leaders in the PPP are not bad, the party has done badly enough, warranting a change.
And on that point, he called on the electorate to give their support to the APNU+AFC on May 11.
The PPP/C on the campaign trail has contended that the People’s National Congress (PNC) is going through an identity crisis as it tries to hide from its sordid past.
The ruling party has told the electorate that in the metamorphosis, the former administration has moved from being PNC, to PNC Reform (PNCR), to PNCR-1 Guyana, to the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and now the APNU+AFC Alliance.
It maintained that notwithstanding the name changes, the old PNC is still large and in charge.
Former President Janet Jagan was a known target of the PNC Administration, and their relentless Opposition to her presidency was one of the factors that influenced her resignation from the post.
Jagan-Brancier had said she hates people who put her mother down, and at one time candidly noted: “This is the way I feel.”
Vote PPP/C
Sticking to the party her mother helped found and nurture, Jagan-Brancier in the terse letter declared, “I am writing to let it be known that I support the People’s Progressive Party/Civic in the upcoming elections on May 11, 2015,” urging “everyone to go out and vote early on that day for the Cup”.
Meanwhile, the PPP/C in a full page advertisement of a letter allegedly written by former President Janet Jagan, accused her son Joey of being disrespectful to her, his father and the party they founded.
According to the letter, Joey was less than honest when he said the country’s first Executive President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham was his Godfather.