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At a media conference after the first leadership meeting since the August 2-4 Congress in Berbice, the party announced its newly-elected Executive Committee.
Full members of the PPP’s Executive Committee are: President Donald Ramotar; Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon; Government Chief Whip and Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira; Home Affairs Minister and new General Secretary Clement Rohee; Executive Secretary of the PPP/C Zulficar Mustapha; Minister within the Agriculture Ministry, Ali Baksh; former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo; Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran; Minister of Housing and acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali; PPP/C stalwart Navin Chandarpal; Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) President Komal Chand; Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony; former Local Government Minister Clinton Collymore; Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai; and former Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall.
The candidate members are Head of the Office of Climate Change Shyam Nokta; Director of Sport Neil Kumar; and PPP Member of Parliament Dharamkumar Seeraj.
President Ramotar pointed out that the task of managing the party had become extremely “overwhelming” in many cases and it has caused him not to be able to give all the attention he had wanted to the party so as to ensure the PPP/C remains strong and vibrant and ready to take on any challenges that would be ahead in the near or distant future of the party.
He noted that the PPP/C’s first Central Committee had its 30th Congress earlier this month.
The President and former General Secretary said that he nominated Clement Rohee as the new General Secretary of the party. Rohee was subsequently elected unanimously during the Central Committee’s first post-Congress meeting held at Freedom House on Robb Street, earlier yesterday.
Rohee is now the fourth General Secretary – the others were the late Mrs Janet Jagan, late Dr Cheddi Jagan and President Donald Ramotar.
Ramotar stated that he has every confidence that Clement Rohee will do a good job in fulfilling the duties as the General Secretary of the party.
“I have every confidence that the position of General Secretary is in extremely capable hands,” said the President.
Rohee did not rule out stepping down as Home Affairs Minister in the future but stated not in the “immediate future.”
Minister Rohee asserted that his work would be difficult in ensuring that the PPP remains connected with all classes and layers of the nation.
He noted that being the General Secretary is indeed a huge responsibility and will not be an easy task, but he is committed to work with the other central committee members as the party remains the premier political force and is committed to being connected to ordinary people, the working class, intellectuals, and the public and private sectors.
“While I see this as a heavy responsibility I see it also as a team effort to maintain those traditions,” he added.
Clement James Rohee, born March 16, 1950, is a Guyanese politician. He has been a high-ranking government minister since the PPP/C gained power in 1992.
In his youth, Rohee joined the PPP’s Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) . Following the PPP’s victory in the 1992 elections, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2001. He was Chairman of the Group of 77 in 1999.
At a ceremony marking Guyana’s assumption of chairmanship in January 1999, Rohee said that the international monetary system was at “risk for devastating failure” and was “severely flawed”, pointing to the Asian financial crisis and calling for reform of the system.
From 2001 to 2006, he was Minister of Foreign Trade and International Co-operation. During this time, he was also the ministerial spokesperson for CARICOM regarding negotiations at the World Trade Organisation from 2002 to 2006, as well as the Lead Ministerial Spokesperson of CARICOM regarding sugar from 2004 to 2006.
In September 2006, he became Minister of Home Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle after the PPP won a fourth term in the 2006 elections.
Rohee is a member of the Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the PPP.
He has also served as a member of the PPP’s Education Committee, as Secretary of the Central Committee responsible for International Affairs, and as Executive Secretary and Convenor of the PPP’s Race Relations Committee.
He has also served on the editorial board of the PPP’s journal, Thunder.
