PPP executives back Jagdeo over leak row
Ramjattan to quit central committee
Stabroek News
February 13, 2004
Twenty-nine members of the PPP yesterday issued a signed statement denying that Presi-dent Bharrat Jagdeo had accused party member Khem-raj Ramjattan of leaking information and in response Ramjattan said he would quit the party's central committee (CC).
A raging row has erupted in public over what Ramjattan was accused of at a CC meeting of the party on January 31. Ramjattan and fellow CC member Moses Nagamootoo have said that President Jagdeo accused Ramjattan of passing information to the US embassy. This was categorically denied earlier this week by Jagdeo through his information liaison, Robert Persaud and by PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar in a television interview.
Yesterday the denial was fortified by a statement from the People's Progressive Party (PPP) signed by 29 members of the CC present at the meeting who dubbed the claims by Nagamootoo and Ramjattan as "false and malicious".
"We, the undersigned members present at [the January 31] meeting at Freedom House, categorically state that neither President Jagdeo nor any other member accused Khemraj Ramjattan of giving information to any foreign embassy or mission. We fully concur with the statement of the General Secretary of the People's Pro-gressive Party (PPP) Donald Ramotar emphatically denying that any such accusation was made," the statement said.
The signatories to that statement are: Reepu Daman Persaud, Shirley Edwards, Indra Chandarpal, Cyril Bel-grave, Eddie Rodney, Omar Sharief, Ralph Ramkarran, Ali Baksh, Zulfikar Mus-tapha, Samaroo, Komal Chand, Janet Jagan, Khellawan Lall, Bharrat Jagdeo, Anupwattie Veeren, Pauline Sukhai, Gail Teixiera, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Neil Kumar, Clinton Collymore, Clement Rohee, Desmond Morian, Satyadeow Sawh, Harrinarine Baldeo, Robert Persaud, Dr. Moti Lall, Premchand Dass, Faizal Jafarally and R. Ramlakhan.
The signatures on the statement do not include those of Ramotar, who is on official business in Ethiopia and Local Government Minister Harripersaud Nokta, who is on an eight-day tour of the Rupununi, Region Nine. However, the statement said that both Ramotar and Nokta concurred with its contents.
Contacted by Stabroek News for a comment, Ramjattan said he would quit the CC and officially tender his resignation today. Nagamootoo could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.
"In view of [the Committee's statement], I will tender my resignation as a member of the Central Committee. [The statement issued] demonstrates a rallying of many members around an untruth," Ramjattan asserted.
Ramjattan added "...[The statement] is as horrible as [the situation] can get because several of the Committee's senior members who were present at [the January 31 meeting] had admitted to me that the President had been wrong to level such an accusation against me,...they even tried to [placate] me afterwards. I am absolutely amazed that that's what people can say."
Ramjattan is currently before a disciplinary hearing of the PPP in relation to remarks contained in a column published in the Stabroek News. He appeared before the hearing on February 6 but no final decision was reached.
Nagamootoo had issued his own statement on Wednesday saying that at the meeting he had heard Jagdeo accusing Ramjattan of passing information to the US embassy. Nagamootoo had said that when he heard Ramotar denying this on a television programme he had telephoned him on February 6 saying that he could not support the denial.
Nagamootoo had added "I am forced to make this statement in the interest of our party. Comrade Bharrat Jagdeo, who is the sitting President of our Republic, and all other party leaders should be careful about what they say before the Central Committee. Irreparable harm could be done by `loose statements' and imputations of treachery against leading members". He also went on to call for a halt to public attacks.
In response to this, the PPP had issued a statement reiterating the earlier statement that the accusation had not been made against Ramjattan and promising a fuller statement.