– Former PNCR, AFC member believes PPP/C is the ‘best and only choice for all Guyanese’
– says Opposition parties too ‘fragmented’ hence his ‘jumping ship’
FORMER People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Alliance for Change (AFC) member Mr. Peter Ramsaroop has formed an alliance with the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), saying that he thinks it is the best and only choice for all Guyanese and brushed off the inevitable questions about being a political grasshopper.
Ramsaroop was with the Reform component of the PNCR for the 2001 elections and joined the AFC in 2009 as its CEO. He spent just a few short months in that position before abandoning that party.
In a short statement yesterday, Ramsaroop said he believes Guyana can be a transport-led economy.
“As a former Presidential Candidate campaigning for continued changes to Guyana, I have advocated for key shifts in our economic vision. I have had a chance to review the PPP/C 2011 Manifesto and find it refreshing that many of the key programmes such as the deep water harbour, completion of the Road to Brazil and certain tax reliefs are all in the plan under a Ramotar-led Government,” he said.
Ramsaroop said that a review of the entire tax system including the VAT, as promised in the Manifesto, is something he “strongly” believes must happen.
“I fully support these initiatives. In addition, as a leading member of the opposition ranks, I believe Guyana needs a period of political peace and working alongside each other to ensure that all Guyanese benefit,” he said.
Ramsaroop noted that he has had discussions with the PPP/C Presidential Candidate and has gotten from him and his team “the assurance that the strong desire and will is there for all of us to work together no matter ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, for a better nation.”
Said Ramsaroop, “Mr. Ramotar is a family man and understands what it takes to run a household like many of us and I strongly believe he will be a President for all of Guyana. And I am confident the PPP/C is the best and only choice for all Guyanese.”
Ramsaroop said he is wary of the barrage of questions that will hit him with regard to his moving from one party to the next. Painting a picture, he said that a person in the corporate world who moves around from company to company will gain valuable experience. “Nothing is wrong with moving around…you get to understand different constituents,” he said, adding that with the experience he will be able to serve the people. “I see this as a good thing,” Ramsaroop declared.
Asked why the move to the party he fought against politically for years, Ramsaroop said a party must be able to put forward formidable plans and have a strong leadership. He acknowledged that the Opposition parties, in which he was part, were fragmented hence his ‘jumping ship’.
Further, there was a pull factor to the PPP/C, he said. He noted that the policies as outlined in the just launched Manifesto mirrors some of the plans that he would have liked to see to bring the economic prosperity that the country seeks. He singled out the policies on roads and taxes saying, “I have advocated for those for ten years.”
Ramsaroop said that there is need for political maturity in Guyana and his crossing the floor to the PPP/C despite being with the Opposition for so many years demonstrates that this could be achieved.
Asked for a comment on the defection of Ramsaroop to the ruling party yesterday, PPP/C campaign front man Mr. Robert Persaud, referring to a statement by Ramotar, assured that the party would be willing to work with any person or group to further the country’s development and achieve unity. Persaud said that all persons coming to the party from other political parties or civil society organisations have done so on their own volition and have been unsolicited by the party.