Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 07, 2015 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
Joey Jagan was unduly harsh in assailing Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran (KN Jul 1) for not publicly endorsing and supporting the APNU/AFC coalition during the election campaign. Many felt Ralph did the right and honourable thing not to publicly support either political force.
Ralph is a lawyer par excellence. He is a man of integrity and decency and a gentleman. He is non-confrontational and supports amiable solutions to a problem. He believes in national unity and power sharing. And it would have been a conflict of his view to come out and support either party.
It is also noted that when he was Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph was fair and balanced and highly regarded for his impartiality and professionalism. He was viewed as being too impartial, so much so that he ran into confrontations with and received attacks from MPs from his own party.
The PPP questioned his rulings and judgments as Speaker. But he responded in equal measure, asking them if they were prepared to challenge his ruling using their majority in parliament. He was prepared to step down from the Speaker’s chair to have his rulings challenged. I heard him challenge MPs in the chamber. The PPP MPs backed down.
It should be noted that the fact that Ralph did not come out publicly on the side of the coalition does not in and of itself mean that he was not supportive of the coalition or did not want the coalition to win.
One does not have to reveal a public posture to demonstrate support for a cause or movement or outcome. Publicly, he sat on the fence. But privately, his views in confidential conversations must have been different. After all, Ralph was insulted and demeaned by the hierarchy of the PPP. One must also examine closely the contents of his commentaries – he pilloried certain figures in the PPP suggesting how people should vote – that is a greater endorsement than coming out publicly telling people to vote coalition.
One must not forget that Ramkarran was/is a public, highly respected figure, objectively commenting on matters of public interest. As such, many people felt it would have been inappropriate for the former Speaker, former Ex CO Member of PPP turned critic and op-ed commentator, to endorse any party during the vicious electoral campaign. He has presented himself as profound, matured thinker and people look forward for his weekly views. He rightly chose to be unaligned, providing constructive critique of both parties.
Vishnu Bisram
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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