PPP 32nd Congress: Irfaan Ali, Bharrat Jagdeo lead list of new 35-member Central Committee

The People…Congress a “resounding success”, “shock value” left Opposition reeling – GS ’s Progressive Party 32nd Congress witnessed the election of a 40-member Central Committee of the party, including 35 voting members that saw the rise of new faces, even while some more seasoned veterans quietly slid down the voting tally.

Leading the list with the highest votes was President Dr. Irfaan Ali (2308). Coming in a close second was the General Secretary of the party, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo (2257), while the party’s Executive Secretary, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, came third (2174).
Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat (2046); Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira (2015) and former Minister of Local Governance and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall (1912) rounded out the top six.
Other Central Committee members also include Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal (1792); Minister within the Office of Prime Minister Kwame McCoy (1721); Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall (1690), Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai (1688) and Shyam Nokta (1616).
Also elected were Ricky Ramraj (1502); Member of Parliament Jennifer Westford (1485), Neil Kumar (1465), Anand Persaud (1372), Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony (1308), Zamal Hussain (1224); Faizal Jaffarally (1221); Bryan Allicock (1213); Human Services Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud (1206); Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson Jr. (1155); Karl Singh (1115).
Claire Singh (1088), former President Donald Ramotar (1075), Humace Oodit (981), Region One (Barima-Wini) Chairman Brentnol Ashley (916); Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA) President and Member of Parliament Dharamkumar Seeraj (915), former Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran (899); Sheik Ayube (896), former PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee (735) and President of the Women and Gender Equality Commission Indranie Chandarpal (703) are also on the Central Committee.
While the new Central Committee saw some familiar faces returning, several new figures have also joined the helm of the party. They include former Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Paul Cheong (1111); Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner and Attorney-at-Law Sase Gunraj (749) and Parliamentary Secretaries Sarah Browne (1240) and Vickash Ramkissoon (873).
Meanwhile, five persons were elected to the committee but as candidate members without voting rights. They were Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar (1317); Labour Ministry Permanent Secretary Mae Toussaint Jr. Thomas (891), Jason Abdulla (888), Andrew Forsythe (706) and Rion Peters (688).

Resounding success
During the press conference where he announced the results, Jagdeo described the congress as a “resounding success”. He made it clear that the ethnic diversity was there for all to see, also taking a swipe at the opposition which has been critical of the congress.
“Overall, our congress was a resounding success. I’ve seen some people griping all the time. The shock value of what they saw here. The ethnic diversity, when you go under the tent and you look at the volunteers and the people, we didn’t pay those people. People of every race, coming from Linden and every part of the country. East Coast, Georgetown.”
“The cultural show. Our own comrades from parts of the country, performing. The camaraderie, the spirit of what took place here. When you look at that, its unbelievable. And I think it shook up the PNC. That’s why the gripers went into hyper mode. They saw the writing on the wall.”
At the last congress in 2016, the highest number of votes for a single candidate (Jagdeo) had been 718 votes. Fast forward to 2024 and Jagdeo pointed out that the PPP/C’s membership has grown exponentially between then and now.
“Our party has grown enormously from the time we were in opposition, to this congress. We have had more than twice the number of delegates of past elections. And large numbers of volunteers,” Jagdeo said, going on to thank those who contributed to the congress.
Jagdeo further explained that there were even more people who wanted to come to the congress. However, he explained that there were limitations on how many can come based on their numerical strength at the party level.
“So, we didn’t have a situation where we had to corral people and force them to attend or, as some would like to believe because they practice the same thing. They fill up the seats with people who are not affiliated with the party… in this case, we had committed members attending the congress.”
“Historically, I’ve gone to congresses. And often, after the vote on the first day for members of the Central Committee, on the second day people would go back home. Many of them. Because they believe they’ve fulfilled their mandate. Today, we had a packed hall. The delegates did not budge an inch. They waited for the discussions and the many resolutions we passed today,” Jagdeo also said.
Meanwhile, the Central Committee is expected to meet to elect the Executive of the party, after which a General Secretary will be elected. According to Jagdeo, this meeting is expected to be held later this week. (G3)