PPP to hold Congress later this year or early 2024 – General Secretary

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has not held its Delegates’ Congress in seven years but according to the party’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, arrangements are being made to hold the critical conference later this year or early 2024.
“We discussed this at the Executive [Committee]. The timeline is towards the end of the year or early next year,” Jagdeo disclosed in response to a question during a press conference on Thursday about the hosting of the PPP’s long overdue Congress.
According to the party’s constitution, the Delegates’ Congress is due every three years. PPP’s last congress was held in December 2016 on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two.
General Secretary Jagdeo explained that the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the contributing factors to the delays in hosting the party’s congress.
At the Delegates’ Congress, the PPP is expected to elect a new 32-member Central Committee as party members – both local and from the diaspora – to discuss critical issues within the party as well as in the country.
Jagdeo said too that of recent, the PPP has been attracting new supporters including young persons and supporters from the Opposition camp.
The PPP, led by President Dr Irfaan Ali, returned to office in August 2020 after losing the 2015 elections to the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.
As a result, the 2016 Delegates’ Congress was a major one for the party during which there was an in-depth analysis of the results of the 2015 elections.
Held under the theme “Strengthen the Party, Defend Democracy, Onward to Victory”, the PPP had said it was one of the largest in terms of the participation of delegates and observers.
One of the highlights of the Congress was the presentation of the Central Committee Report, which formed the basis for spirited and robust discussions at the several workshops. The main issues and recommendations from the workshops were presented to the plenary sessions for further deliberations, adoption and implementation.
The party had said that the discussions both at the plenary and workshop levels centred on strengthening the party politically and organisationally in order to win the next General and Regional Elections with an overwhelming majority.
“The Congress ended on a high note of optimism and confidence in the capacity of the party to defend the democratic and economic gains of the Guyanese people in the ongoing struggle against the anti-people policies and programmes being implemented by the Granger-led APNU/AFC regime,” the PPP had outlined.
Now that the party is back in office, Jagdeo, who is also the Vice President of the currently PPP/C Administration, said his party will continue to work hard at both the national and local levels in the interest of not just its supporters but all of Guyana.
The PPP/C has turned its attention to the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) and is in the process of finalising its list of candidates before taking it to the party’s Executive Committee for approval. The party said it will officially launch its LGE campaign next month. (G8)