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Ramkarran says…Newspaper trying to intimidate me into silence
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran has come under attack from the Guyana Times.
The fact that these attacks came almost immediately after he publicly condemned statements made by former President Bharrat Jagdeo has led Ramkarran to believe that the newspaper is seeking to penalize him and simultaneously send a warning for him to back off.
Former PPP stalwart, Ralph Ramkarran
Last week, Ramkarran chided Jagdeo for attempting to justify his “Cadillac lifestyle” by painting a picture suggesting that the late former President, Cheddi Jagan had a similar life style.
There were outraged responses by many people to Jagdeo’s statement, including Clem Seecharran, Peter Fraser and two distinguished Guyanese historians living and working in the UK. But the most telling came from Nadira Jagan-Brancier, the Jagan’s daughter, Dr. Tulsie Dyal Singh and Sadie Amin.
Ramkarran had set the ball rolling by stating it was “sinful” for Jagdeo to make the comparison he did. Now, Ramkarran believes that he was being penalized for defending the legacy of the founder of the Party he spent many years in.
Ramkarran lamented the attacks in his most recent article published on his website, www.conversationtree.gy and said that it was “expected.”
“As expected, two articles appeared in the Guyana Times containing stories about me on familiar issues, some from twenty years ago, some earlier, which are completely and deliberately fabricated or distorted even though the correct information is known or easily available to the newspaper,” said Ramkarran.
This newspaper had published what Ramkarran said about Jagdeo on March 15. By March 18, Guyana Times wrote the first article under the caption “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones!”
In that article, it was alleged that Ramkarran refused a cabinet post in 1992 and instead demanded legal work for his firm.
By March 19, Guyana Times published another article this one under the heading “Ramkarran strikes gold with Demerara Gold.”
In defending the content of the first article, Ramkarran said “I was never offered a cabinet post in 1992 and there was no flood of legal business to my firm.”
Speaking about the second item, Ramkarran said, “In this piece “a series of patently false allegations were made about technical matters relating to the trademark “Demerara Gold.”
He noted that he replied to Guyana Times with a detailed refutation but up to the time of writing it was not published.
The former PPP stalwart said that the false allegations are intended to embarrass and intimidate him into silence. He added that the “message of the intimidation by the Guyana Times is that if I do not stop, there will be consequences.”
Ramkarran said that within the PPP, “different and more direct, intimidatory techniques exist. Direct abuse is a major one. Subtle threats of dismissal from employment are another. Most people have jobs with the party or government, which they need to secure for their livelihood. This is enough to encourage silence. Dissentient voices have been effectively stilled in the PPP, even though Jagdeo is widely criticized privately”
Ramkarran said that the question is often asked, “How it is that Jagdeo has got such a hold over the PPP that no one dares to oppose him?”
The former stalwart said that he spoke out for years in the PPP, subjecting himself to intense abuse and isolation, “until it became necessary to ensure that I no longer remain within its ranks. No one else has so far dared to oppose Jagdeo.”
“As expected, the General Secretary of the PPP, Clement Rohee, refused to comment on the controversy, just as the previous General Secretary, Donald Ramotar, refused to comment on Jagdeo’s insult to Mrs. Jagan when she called for a restoration of advertisements to the Stabroek News in 2006.
No one in the PPP will now ever be able to speak to the Jagans’ simple and humble lifestyle, and urge its emulation, for fear of offending Jagdeo. This crass and unworthy attempt by him to justify the size of his mansion by the sea and his gargantuan, post presidential, benefits has taken away one of the PPP’s greatest assets from its public relations armoury, namely, the Jagan legacy of a modest lifestyle with integrity and humility. Jagdeo said that their lifestyle was luxurious. No one in the PPP can now ever dare to say otherwise,” said Ramkarran.
He added that Jagdeo is in full command and control of the PPP.
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