Jagdeo addresses the ‘fountain’ of PPP’s strength
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo Sunday fired up residents of Berbice during a campaign rally and again endorsed PPP presidential candidate Donald Ramotar, calling him a consensus seeker and one with the right attributes for the top job.
The rally took place at the JC Chandisingh Secondary School on the Corentyne, Berbice. “It is always good to come to Berbice and to see the old comrades still going strong, comrades who have given many years of their lives in the struggle to change our country, and to see the many young people coming into the fold of our party, recognising that in the future they will continue the struggle started by Cheddi Jagan, a struggle that will continue to have the PPP at the centre of development of our country,” he said.
Thanking the women for coming out and supporting the party, the President said their resilience and enthusiasm help tremendously.
He said Berbice has always been a very special place for the PPP. “It not only gave us our founder leader, Cheddi Jagan. [People there] have a silent strong resolve that has helped to maintain the struggle from the beginning to the end. And I look at the faces here and I see that resoluteness in those faces and this resoluteness cannot be matched by any other party,” he declared.
“The resolve that you have in your faces [will result in] the re-election of the PPP into power and Donald Ramotar as the next President of Guyana,” he said.
“So every time we need a new boost of energy in the party, guess where we come to? Berbice!” he said. “Every time we feel that our strength is waning, we come here and we leave more energetic to continue the struggle. This is the fountain!” he declared.
“[You lead us] to believe that even though you were concerned about the future of this country, you trusted that the leadership of the [PPP] will make the right decision and I say that we have made the right decision in selecting Donald Ramotar,” he said.
Jagdeo said even though members of the Opposition said the PPP would have been divided in the presidential candidate selection process, the party has dumbfounded them by remaining united and strong.
“We recognise that the unity we have does not come because we have good comrades alone, but because we are driven by some basic principles. And these principles did not emerge yesterday. These principles emerged from the foundation of our party,” he said.
He said the principle is that the party must remain strong, united and focused on developing the country. “That is the primary purpose why we seek power and why we have to maintain power, because we are driven by a purpose and the purpose is to ensure that our people live a better life, that our children have better education, that we have better health-care for everyone, that people can start living a decent life just here in Guyana,” he said.
He said that Donald Ramotar has for all his life been associated with struggle of the people, “not to take away freedom from anyone.” He again criticised the PNC for what he called decades of misrule, saying that people must ensure that they do not go back to those days.
“And so the choices are clear,” said the President, describing Ramotar as a bulwark of the party, coming from the teaching and guidance of Cheddi and Janet Jagan.
“Most people know him as being humble, approachable. Most people know him as a consensus seeker, a person who strives to bring people together rather than divide them. These are all excellent personal qualities; but he is also much more than that. He is an economist by training and we know that this country needs to progress economically,” said President Jagdeo.
“We in the PPP have remained faithful to the people and faithful to our purpose, and this is the reason for our progress. It is not simply the continuation of a party in power. It is the future of Guyana,” he said.
“Comrades, if you think the achievements of our government have been great, then the next five years will be even greater,” the president said.