PPP General-Secretary and Presidential candidate Mr. Donald Ramotar has always been perceived as having an equable temperament, with a puck-like smile when he has bested an opponent in an argument; and rarely is this equanimity ruffled, despite the continuum of provocations and violence directed at the PPP by opposition elements throughout the decades of its existence, even to the point where its members were murdered and its leadership victimized and violated in myriads of ways. Nevertheless, the PPP leadership has always reached out a hand in friendship to its detractors, and have always been rebuffed on one pretext or another, especially with the contention by opposition parties that they had right to equal place in Cabinet as the ruling party, despite democratic norms and procedures that dictate the administrative formulation of the governmental construct. 
Donald Ramotar has himself sustained relationships with political opponents; he said he was on good terms with many members of the opposition parties.

POWER SHARING
In an interview with the Chronicle last week, Ramotar says he has no objection to power-sharing, but this has to be based on mutual trust and respect; not through threats and destructive actions.
Nonetheless, Ramotar contended that there is inclusiveness in every administrative configuration, especially at parliamentary level.  He cited the parliamentary oversight bodies and select committees that review the workings of the various administrative sectors and departments and Bills, with the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee traditionally held by the PNC since the public audits were re-introduced. 
The other standing committees have rotating chairpersonship, with the PNC chairing two and the PPP chairing two; and most of the time, according to Ramotar, the committees arrive at consensual positions.
He contends that most major policy or programme that the Government initiates; as well as may pieces of legislation driven in the House, has had wide participation and consultation by stakeholders nationwide, and oversight by parliamentary bodies comprising of members of Government and opposition Members of Parliament, which he stresses is inclusiveness at the most integral level, because every level of society is allowed a voice in decision-making in this way, and not a mere power-hungry individual, which is an innovative approach to governance that has never been practiced by the PNC administration.
The very history of the PPP is replete with inclusivity and reaching out to form alliances, stressed Ramotar, who recalled the formation of the PCD in 1985, a body comprising all the opposition parties set up to fight for free-and-fair elections and a restoration of democracy. 
It was suggested that the body go into the elections as an alliance.  However, during discussions, it became clear that the leaders of the minor parties merely wanted the support base of the PPP to get them into government, but were disallowing the PPP from being in any position where it could influence the policies of the government, which was an unconscionable position. As a result, the alliance collapsed.
Ramotar recalled that this was the genesis of the PPP/C, which was fundamentally Dr. Jagan’s idea, because the PPP still wanted to go into the elections as a broad-based alliance with Guyanese from various backgrounds and affiliations who wanted to make a contribution to the massive rebuilding and reconstruction of the nation that had become necessary at that time.
“We embraced them, and many went on to become ministers of the government, with Sam Hinds of the GUARD movement becoming Prime Minister; and this alliance with civil society and other groupings has worked very well in our society and is constantly evolving, and these are the democratic ways that the PPP has been sharing power in this country.  Many of the current ministers of the government are not members of the PPP, but all are committed to the primary task of nation-building,” Ramotar told the Chronicle.

THE EARLY YEARS AND A PRINCIPLED FATHER
The character of PPP’s Presidential Candidate was shaped by a hardworking and highly-principled father, who believed absolutely in Dr Cheddi Jagan and the vision he had for a free, democratic and prosperous Guyana.  According to Ramotar, his father staunchly supported the PPP from the time it was formed and the Ramotar family home was the party base for members who travelled from the city to keep meetings.
Being a product of an East Indian father and a mother of mixed African and Amerindian descent, Ramotar said he had never had a problem with racial profiling, and he never can define anyone through racial characteristics, because this has never been an issue for him; nor for any member of the PPP that he can recall. 
He is adamant that, while there may at times be rare personality differences between individuals, these are never based on issues of religion or race, and that at all times everyone subjugates their personal differences for the greater good of and cohesiveness in the party, because unity is a paramount facet of the PPP identity.  A case in point is the recent unanimous choice of the Party executives to select him as the PPP presidential candidate for the 2011 elections.
His father was a hardworking provider who left a job on a sugar estate to work with his brother on a timber concession, finally owning and working his own concession, which allowed the family of parents and nine siblings to live in lower middle-class comfort.  Growing up in Caria Caria between Supenaam and Bartica on the Essequibo River, Donald is no stranger to rural survival struggles, although he has pleasant memories of his childhood days, despite having to walk on hinterland tracks for approximately three miles to reach school, which he considers an enjoyable experience that has left pleasant childhood memories.
Ramotar said that, although his father was a committed family man and a good provider, his small business was always susceptible to deleterious business fluctuations then prevalent in the country, so he never had excess resources.  However, when he refused the demand by PNC officials to condemn the PPP and Dr Jagan and join their party during the run-up to the 1973 elections, his timber concession licence was withdrawn.
But he did not relent, because he was uncompromising in his conviction that the PPP was a party that had the interest of all the people of the country and his loyalty to the PPP was unwavering, so he was forced to move to the West Coast of Demerara, where he began a small shop in Zeeburg, which did not do very well because those were the hard years when most goods had been banned in the country and what were available could only be accessed through PNC KSI outlets, mainly to holders of PNC party cards.  Jobs then were also only obtainable by PNC card bearers, so life became very difficult for a man who had always lived with pride and dignity, and who was reduced, as most Guyanese had been during those years, to a level of mere subsistence.  Ramotar said that his father never recovered from the loss of his economic strength, which was his timber operation.

BECOMING A PPP STALWART
What was fortunate was that by then, Donald and his older siblings had grown up and were living independent lives. After leaving his father’s timber grant, Ramotar was first employed at GIMPEX, the commercial arm of the PPP, from 1966 to 1975, when he was appointed manager of Freedom House, a position he held for eight years. 
From 1983 to 1988 he served as a member of the editorial council of the magazine ‘Problems of Peace and Socialism’,  and as the International Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural and Workers’ Union (GAWU) between 1988 and 1993.
Ramotar formally joined the PPP in 1967 and was elected to the Central Committee in 1979, then to the Executive Committee in 1983.  He assumed the position of Executive Secretary of the party one year after the party was restored to office in 1992, then was appointed to his current position of General-Secretary of the PPP in March 1997 when Dr Jagan passed away.
Although as a boy he could not vote in the 1964 elections, he yet went on the campaign trail, most often accompanying his father, but he sometimes moved on his own in Caria Caria and surrounding areas, including the nearby Essequibo islands.  In 1966, he moved to Georgetown and began his political career in earnest.  He claims to have been greatly influenced by the late Boysie Ramkarran and Narbada Persaud, among others.

VICTIMISATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST PPP MEMBERS
Ramotar disclaims any heroism on his part, because every party member braved the violent opposition of the day.  Those were difficult times, even frightening, but still comrades organised and attended political meetings, while knowing that the meetings would very often attract  attacks by what he terms “PNC goons”, mainly operating through the House of Israel and Rabbi Washington.
He said that PPP meetings were regularly violently broken up.  “I remember the 1973 period, when I was in one really dangerous situation at Golden Grove on the East Coast, where the thugs badly beat some members and smashed members’ vehicles. Narbada Persaud’s car was badly damaged. I was not injured, but Harrinarine Nawbatt and some others were very badly beaten up, and this was a normal occurrence at PPP meetings.
“Dr. Jagan himself was injured during an invasion by ‘PNC thugs’ on a platform at the Parade Ground, where he had been invited to speak in protest of the expulsion from Jamaica of Clive Thomas and other academics from the University of West Indies”, Ramotar reminisced.
“These were not easy times but we were engaged in a struggle that we realized could not have been abandoned. I was a boy when a bomb killed Michael Forde at Freedom House, but somehow Dr. Jagan had this ability to inspire the confidence of his supporters in his vision and persons to pursue the goals he aspired to for the country, and although we knew that the situations that existed at times were dangerous, we had unswerving faith in him, because his message was a national one, and he always appealed for national unity.
Somehow I always was convinced that we would prevail in our struggles, despite some comrades gave up and others migrated.  I have never had any doubt that Dr Jagan’s dream of peace and prosperity for this nation would one day prevail”.    
Throughout this period, the PPP never stopped working for national unity. Ramotar suggested that the violence often unleashed by the PNC was a reflection that the PPP’s message was getting through and frightening the PNC oppressors. He is convinced that Dr. Jagan’s dream of uniting Guyana and achieving prosperity for the Guyanese people is well on the way to fructifying, despite the best efforts of the opposition elements to cast doubts on the PPP/C government’s commitment to this ideal, and its strategies and programmes planned and initiated to achieve this eventuality.

ABSOLUTE FAITH IN THE VISION OF DR. JAGAN
Donald Ramotar and what he calls legions of others had absolute faith and were inspired by Dr. Jagan’s passion and conviction that they will be able to overcome the hatred and bring people together, because the party’s unwavering message was always a national one – an appeal for unity in the nation and a bridging of all the divides so that the country can achieve its optimum potential for growth and development. 
“Being in government is not merely about being in power, but it is primarily about taking the nation forward through development and growth that will benefit all the people of the country; and the PPP/C has been achieving much progress in incremental stages as money and resources become available.”

DEBT RELIEF
Ramotar contended that, while there was much criticism by opposition elements against Dr. Jagan and Bharrat Jagdeo, who waged an international campaign for debt reduction and relief, the debt burden that was left on the nation by the PNC administration; moreso, with nothing to show for it, had reduced us to the level of beggars on the international arena. 
According to Ramotar, no household nor country could survive, much less progress with all its income going toward paying interest – year after year, on a crippling debt burden such as the PPP/C government inherited from the PNC administration. 
“On top of that, every institution and every infrastructure and every sector had been completely devastated,” he recalled.   They had all been stripped. And state records had been destroyed in massive bonfires.  We had to rebuild this country practically from scratch.  This young generation who walk the streets in freedom, buy anything they want from any store with freedom, and pursue tertiary education without the inconvenience and fear of breaking their studies midway to suffer in the Guyana National Service are mainly unconscious of the sacrifices some brave and committed people made to pave the way and enable them these freedoms.  We can only hope that they choose wisely in the next elections so as to continue this programme of progress that this government is facilitating, propagating and implementing in every area, every sector, and every community of this country.
We have had peace in the recent past, and this has allowed our growth indices to climb and the economic configurations to stabilize, and even grow.  Unlike many first-world countries, Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals are sound,” stressed Ramotar.

RELATIONSHIP WITH PRESIDENT JAGDEO
Despite rumours to the contrary by detractors, Donald Ramotar is adamant that there has never been an issue relative to Bharrat Jagdeo being the PPP presidential candidate.  He insisted that there was consensus that he was an integral component of the A-team and if there had not been a constitutional two-term limitation, the current president would have continued to lead the party into the elections, based on his supremely creditable performance during his stewardship of the nation and the many projects and programmes that he had initiated that are still works in progress, as well as his amazing popularity throughout the country.
“The president’s hard work and foresight have introduced synergies that have literally transformed our nation from near a heavily indebted poor country to a position of a middle-income country, which is no mean feat, especially given what we started with.  The PPP/Civic Government has taken development to a new level,” stressed Ramotar.
He dismissed the continuum of criticisms and accusations by the opposition parties and media houses as fear of the government’s success in nation-building  – both in infrastructural development and in a social context.  Nevertheless, he deprecated the opposition’s proclivity to shoot down every project the government proposes or initiates on one pretext or another, even going so far as to attempt to stop much-needed funding for developmental works in the country, for which the people  would suffer, and named the LCDS funds as a case in point.
Ramotar acknowledged that while corruption exists in the country,  it is not at the exaggerated high level as some are claiming it to be.
“The attacks by the media is more for political purpose than they are real. They operate by the philosophy of throwing as much mud as possible, some they hope will stick. What they do not speak about are the measures put in place to deal with this scourge,” Ramotar stated.

RELATIONSHIP WITH KAIETEUR NEWS PUBLISHER
“I do not think Glen Lall would deny the fact that this Government’s policies have facilitated his own expansion; he was encouraged by government and he has never complained that any impediment has been placed in the way of his business ventures.
“I cannot speak for his agenda, and cannot answer for the attacks of the Kaieteur News on the government, but Glen Lall was a family friend long before he owned a newspaper.  We have had a long relationship outside of the box of politics.”