Jagdeo may return to Parliament
There is a high possibility that former President Bharrat Jagdeo will be returning to Parliament after the upcoming
Bharrat Jagdeo
General Elections slated for May, 11.
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, yesterday confirmed that Jagdeo will be playing a lead role in the PPP election campaign.
He said that Jagdeo, who is an executive member of the PPP, will give the Party a boost.
Rohee made these comments at the PPP weekly press conference at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.
Responding to questions about the return of Jagdeo to the local political scene, Rohee sought to make it clear that Jagdeo had never really left, that he was just working behind the scenes for some time now.
The General Secretary told media operatives that Jagdeo had always remained very active in the PPP. Rohee said that the fact that Jagdeo will have a place in the PPP election campaign should come as no surprise to anyone.
Rohee added that the ‘Champion of the Earth’ can very well be featured as one of the candidates on the Party’s list of candidates but said that the PPP is yet to finalize that list.
Asked whether a Jagdeo candidacy would be a plus or a minus for the party heading into the elections, Rohee said, “I think it’s a plus because he is an asset to the PPP and we are not going to let go of him just because of the attacks that have been launched against him, over the years, by the Kaieteur News, the Inews, the Demerara Waves and all those media houses. We are not going to let go of him as an asset to us; he is one of us.”
Jagdeo is known as one of the richest men in the Caribbean, next to his best friend, Bobby Ramroop. Both Jagdeo and his friend gained most of their wealth during Jagdeo’s tenure as President.
He has been accused of using money from the treasury to develop ventures from which he, his friends and family members can benefit from.
Last March, the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the newspaper owned by Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, published two articles suggesting that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) conducted a poll which determined that Jagdeo is favoured to be the front runner at the next General Elections.
But both parties dismissed this notion. APNU’s executive member, Basil Williams said that the Opposition would have nothing to gain by conducting such a poll and further, APNU’s interpretation of the Constitution is that he (Jagdeo) can never return as President.
Recently, President Donald Ramotar exposed the violent nature of Jagdeo when an Amerindian man questioned the former President’s record in office. President Ramotar was addressing a political rally. He attacked the political opposition.
“They don’t have a record to be proud of; they don’t have a history that they can be proud of. That is why they don’t like history and they don’t like to hear about the past.”
The man retorted, “Yea, yea, like Jagdeo.”
“You don’t know anything about Jagdeo. If he bin hay he might a slap yo, coz you stupid,” the President is heard saying on an audio recording released to the media by a villager.
