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Apr 09, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
In my opinion, during his tenure, Bharrat Jagdeo appeared closer to certain strongmen in the power structure than he was to Donald Ramotar. Many reasons explain this but there is a space constraint.
During his reign, Mr. Jagdeo seemed to have been closer to Kwame Mc Coy, Gary Best among others rather than Donald Ramotar. It may be correct to say that during the era of the PPP in opposition and during the administration of the two Jagans until the passing of Dr. Jagan, Ramotar was never impressive.
The Jagans came to see people like Rohee, Luncheon and Teixeira as more politically astute than Ramotar so state power was not put in his hand but rather the affairs of the PPP. So while the Jagans were shaping state power after 1992, Ramotar was left out of that process.
It didn’t take too long for President Jagdeo to see that the Jagans were right about Ramotar and he agreed that he would keep Ramotar where the Jagans first placed him – in the office of the PPP to overlook the party. Jagdeo had twelve years in power and not for a moment did he think of a Cabinet or high state sector post for Ramotar.
When it was time to select a presidential candidate for the 2011 General Elections, Jagdeo knew the most eligible person in his eyes was Ramotar because given Ramotar’s political mediocrity in the PPP, Jagdeo could continue his hegemony.
This was a tragic blow for Ramkarran but Jagdeo knew that a Ramkarran presidency meant the end of Jagdeo in power; a Ramotar presidency meant a continuation. As so it has been since 2011.
When Jagdeo told the press that he had spoken to Ramotar about changing the policy of medical benefits for high state and party officials and that it would be re-shaped, Jagdeo had committed a Freudian blunder. He gave it away. He showed that he is the major mover and shaker in the government. Jagdeo informed Ramotar that he, Jagdeo, would take the reins of the 2015 election campaign.
It is against this backdrop that Ramotar appears foolish when he makes promises to the electorate, two of which at the Kitty rally made the country laugh at him. First, Ramotar guaranteed that if re-elected, a call to the police station would see the presence of the police within half an hour of the call being made.
If Ramotar’s benefactor, Jagdeo, had twelve years in power and Ramotar three and the police couldn’t come even within a hour (unless a rich business called because of the perks involved), why would they come in half an hour’s time in 2015? In this election campaign, the media has to be on the ball.
What the press needs to do is to ask Ramotar why it didn’t happen in Jagdeo’s twelve year old hegemony and during his three-year stint. Surely there has to be an explanation and Ramotar has the obligation to offer one.
Next, Ramotar declared that there would be a better UG. If the President of the country promised improvements at UG, then that is an admission that more could be done for UG. But as in the police arrival, the question must be asked about Jagdeo from 1999 to 2011 and Ramotar from 2011 to 2015.
Why the deterioration the past fifteen years when Jagdeo and Ramotar were in power? There is only one explanation for Ramotar’s promises at the Kitty rally-—rulers who didn’t perform and pledge to do fantastically better if re-elected have a very low opinion of the IQ of their citizens.
One has to be a fool or have the low thinking resembling a donkey to praise a head of government that has neglected to fill a colossal crater across a road that made life miserable for its users then come election time he/she fills it. Are there people like that?
Yes there are but they are a tiny minority among the seven billion souls that inhabit Planet Earth.
Humans have their faults but surely one has to be below the level of a human to believe that there is no connection between an upcoming election and the fixing of a bridge that after twenty-three years in power the government couldn’t repair.
I will leave you with a sad story. On Wednesday, April 1 at 11PM, the cousin of Rawle Welch of the Kaieteur News called me at home. Since morning, Rawle’s cousin explained, he was at the Accident and Emergency of the Georgetown Public Hospital, waiting for a specialist to arrive to treat his critically sick relative.
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