Last week, former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive and House Speaker Ralph Ramkarran described Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo as a “pharaoh”.
Ramkarran said that Jagdeo was a master at politics of abuse as he, among other things, sought to justify and explain the disrespectful and hostile behaviour of some vendors to Jagdeo while he was doing a walkabout recently in Georgetown.
Ramkarran also took several swipes at Jagdeo’s integrity, public conduct and commitment to the founding principles of the PPP while warning that he was selfish and out to achieve personal power at the expense of the Party.
In short, Ramkarran, from his writings and the commentary therein, appeared excited by some of the vendors’ response to Jagdeo as it signalled some sort of premature hope for his already dead political career and presidential ambitions, and success for those behind the current anti-Jagdeo campaign which still lacks imagination and impact.
The truth is, Guyanese and supporters of the PPP have become accustomed to the infantile politics of Ramkarran and other anti-PPP/Jagdeo writers who are continuously seeking to rewrite history for their personal gain, distorting truth and facts while aiming to weaken the PPP because they were rejected by the Party’s principals, who saw their true colours at some point and time in their past.
Ramkarran cannot seriously expect Guyanese to believe that Jagdeo is a pharaoh or still operates like one when compared to those who currently control Guyana’s Executive and sit at the helm of a cosmetic political coalition of convenience.
He does not expect us to believe that Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan do not live in “opulence” and are not masters at the politics of abuse when one considers their postures and actions; both in Government and within the walls of the declining Alliance For Change party.
The privately owned media in Guyana is replete with examples of just how power drunk and arrogant these two leaders are and have become since 2011.
There are so many other politicians who are deserving of that title because of the little regard they show for half of the electorate, the poor, minority groups and the socially disadvantaged. Ramkarran’s attack on Jagdeo was cheap, weak and without merit. As a learned Attorney, surely he could have mounted more serious analogies and arguments that could convince John Public that Jagdeo was bad for Guyana and bad for the PPP.
Does he expect us to believe that, he while in the PPP, had no influence over his fellow comrades in pointing out just how allegedly wicked Jagdeo was and how pharaoh-like he was becoming? After all, most of the comrades would have been junior to him politically and their minds impressionable as well as loyal to the PPP.
The truth is, the tone of Ramkarran’s recent writings suggest he is bitter and very jealous of the accomplishments of Jagdeo, Clement Rohee and Donald Ramotar – politically and personally.
If he seriously wanted what was best for his former Party, he would have never left. He would have done what Margaret Thatcher did in the 1970s and 1980s. He would have stayed and shake up the Party by causing both a political and ideological revolution within it. He would have put his personal ambitions and self-interest aside and served the Party while seeking to curtail whatever he thought was bad for the PPP or anti-Jagan.
Good leaders do not run from battles and storms, they welcome and embrace them because they test their political resolve and worth as well as purpose.
The history of the PPP from 1954 to 1989 and 1992 to 2016 proves that the Party is always bigger than any one person. Like the senate proved that it was willing to murder Caesar so that Rome could live.
Jagdeo is no pharaoh or Caesar in the PPP. He never was and is not today. Ramkarran knows fully well that Jagdeo has earned his place in the Party and has managed to win the respect and admiration of the Party’s youth corps which indefinitely will determine its future agenda.
The Opposition Leader cannot coerce or control any PPP Executive. He is equal to any other and does not have any special magic to control the free minds in the Party.
Instead of his continuing his obsession with Jagdeo and the PPP, Ramkarran should form his own party or cement his relationship with the one in power to show just how much Guyanese favour him over an alleged “pharaoh” like Jagdeo.
Just like the presidential race within the Party, Ramkarran would be astonished by the results of any such poll as it would no doubt prove who Guyanese favour to lead.
