— Rohee expresses dissatisfaction

IN a not-so-surprising move, members of the Central Executive Committee of the People’s

Progressive Party (PPP) have elected Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo as the new General-Secretary, replacing Clement Rohee, who had held the post for the past five ears.
At the last PPP Congress held on December 19, 2016 at Cotton Field Secondary School, Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, Jagdeo received the most votes with 718, followed closely by Dr Frank Anthony, who got 620 votes.

Rohee managed to rake in 522 votes and was placed at number seven.
During the meeting on Saturday at Freedom House, Rohee was not too pleased with Jagdeo’s election and told reporters that he is disappointed that Dr Anthony was not elected General-Secretary.
He said he preferred a younger candidate for the post, hence, he withdrew from the elections to give Dr Anthony the opportunity.

“I am disappointed that Frank did not get the post, but he nevertheless has a personality that the public will indeed appreciate,” said the party’s former General-Secretary.
During the internal elections which involved the 35-member Central Committee of the party, Dr Anthony managed to cop 11 votes, while Jagdeo gained 24 votes.
Asked what are his expectations of Jagdeo, Rohee said that the party has a “history of struggle” and would expect this tradition to be maintained.

Meanwhile, the new PPP General-Secretary said he will be working towards promoting the youths of the party by delegating responsibilities to them, especially at a regional level.
According to Jagdeo, the 31st Congress was, by any standard, the largest and most successful held in recent times.
Significantly, there was a commendably large presence of comrades from the hinterland regions.
A new Central Committee was elected at the Congress. This Central Committee, he said, reflects a mixture of youth, experience, gender, and ethnicity and for the first time, boasts a high presence from the hinterland and riverine communities.

“This represents a national party and it is not just about members and supporters… as for our Central Committee, it is balanced, because it has a lot of experience and new faces, particularly youths,” Jagdeo said.
He said the party will give opportunities to young people and create young leaders, as it has high hopes of winning the next elections.
“We are a working-class party which supports the growth in the country and we intend to work strongly in support areas and even work in APNU strongholds,” Jagdeo declared.
As such, Freedom House, he said, will welcome anyone who has concerns and suggestions as to how they can make amends to better develop their party and work in the interest of the public.

The former president sees his position as General-Secretary as a “light job” and stressed that he will work to grow his party by giving opportunities to youths and persons who deserve to be part of a strong team.
Those elected to the Executive Committee are Anil Nandlall, Clement Rohee, Irfaan Ali, Roger Luncheon, Gail Teixeira, Zulfikar Mustapha, Donald Ramotar, Frank Anthony, Neil Kumar, Shyam Nokta, Clinton Collymore, Collin Croal, Dharamkumar Seeraj, Pauline Sukhai and Bheri Ramsarran.

The Central Committee also elected the following Secretaries: Zulfikar Mustapha, Executive Secretary; Irfaan Ali, Finance Secretary; Anil Nandlall, Public Relations; Hydar Ally, Education; Bheri Ramsarran, International Relations; Gail Teixeira, Mass Organisations; Rick Ramraj, Organising Secretary; and Nigel Dharamlall, Trade Unionism.
Meanwhile, Vickram Bharat, Nigel Dharamlall and Fizal Jaffarally were elected to the Executive Committee as candidate members.