WPA executive floats TT connection in Charrandass ‘yes’ vote
Former MP, Charrandass Persaud
Former MP, Charrandass Persaud

MORE persons have begun to question whether the historic “yes” vote of former government Member of Parliament (MP) Charrandass Persaud was influenced by foreign interference, primarily Guyana’s Caribbean neighbour Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

On the very day of the vote, President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) and international law consultant, Rickford Burke, in a statement, claimed that he had received prior word of Persaud’s plans.

“Let me confirm that on November 16, 2018, we received intelligence that government MP Charrandass Persaud was allegedly negotiating with the PPP to vote for the no-confidence motion through a rich oil tycoon in Trinidad,” he shared on social media.

This, among other matters, is now being treated as a matter of “national security” as the Guyana Police Force (GPF) launched an investigation into the former MP with the police commissioner expected to make an announcement soon.

On Wednesday, Working People’s Alliance (WPA) executive member Tacuma Ogunseye, drew further suspicion when he noted instances in the past where he says the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) conspired with certain figures in the twin island for their gain.
In a letter to the newspaper, he stated that it is widely known that the PPP established strong economic relations with powerful interests in Trinidad which benefited that party while in office.

“The validity of the information of foreign interference in our domestic politics and the accusation that MP Charrandass Persaud was bribed to vote in favour of the opposition will stand or fall at the conclusion of the Guyana Police Force’s current investigation into the matter. This is not the first occasion that the PPP and Trinidad business interests have collaborated to pollute the political atmosphere in Guyana,” Ogunseye stated. “It will be recalled that the 1997 election results were tampered with by the involvement of the Depoo brothers, well known T&T IT experts, who, working in consort with the then GECOM IT Manager, was able to successfully manipulate the system to allow for a ‘resounding PPP victory’ at those elections.”

The WPA activist went on to state that other collaborations were made public such as the “discriminatory policy” regarding road construction contracts in the post-1992 elections.

“Trinidadian contractors, some with unproven track records, were overnight, imported into and dominated the sector to the dismay of local contractors. Lucrative contracts were secretly negotiated in Freedom House, headquarters of the PPP/C. It was argued in that party’s circle that this was necessary because of the deficiency in local capacity. More importantly, the intention was to build up a core of contractors loyal to the PPP and in the process, develop a collaborative relationship with a set of persons who would willingly engage in assisting to rape the resources of the country and sharing the spoils with the political rulers,” Ogunseye assessed.

Trinidadian businessmen renewed their interest in Guyana, Ogunseye added, with the decline in Trinidad’s oil and gas industry and the expected rise of Guyana’s.
He said: “Having lost ground in their homeland, these business interests are prepared to do whatever they deem possible to ensure the PPP’s return to office, since it will be favourable to them. In that scenario, an APNU+AFC government is for them an unacceptable alternative.”

It is unknown whether the probe into the influences of Persaud’s “yes” vote will reveal such collusions but thus far, one other accusation against Charrandass has proven to be true.
On December 31, 2018 online news agency, News Source, broke the news that Persaud was making plans to purchase US$1M worth of gold, providing screenshots of his text message conversation as proof.

On the same day, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo at his weekly press conference had railed against these “accusations of bribery” as “fake news” peddled by the government. Directing his attention to the text screenshot, he said: “…I’ve seen that, how easily these things can be manufactured…the country should want to find out that [sic] these deep intelligence forces that have now gotten this information will share it only with [the particular news agency]? Why would they share it only with [this news agency].”

The online news agency also noted that in the conversation, Persaud disguised his aim by referring to the gold as ‘casareep’ which led Jagdeo to humorously add:
“This is the evidence of the gold purchase that they’re making. It is fake news once again. Fake news and I wouldn’t put it past this government; it is so desperate to create a whole intelligence scenario around this issue for the purposes of staying in office.”

Less than two weeks later, Persaud admitted that just days before his vote to side with the opposition, he advanced discussions on the purchase of US$1M in gold. As regards additional information on the police’s headway on Persaud’s probe, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said on Wednesday: “He [the police commissioner] will make a statement soon on this matter, maybe before the week is out or next week.”

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