The incumbent PPP held its Congress in early May. The Congress was editorialized by the Stabroek News on May 18 focusing on ranking of its 35 Central Committee members from the vote by 2600 delegates. The Congress was held earlier this month at the Convention Center.
One should not attach much meaning in ranking of PPP Central Committee Vote at its Congress. President Ali is ranked number one, higher than party leader Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is number two, as the vote at the PPP Congress revealed. The duo are an effective team, almost equal in influence with Jagdeo as party boss and the power.
The SN editorial on May 18 noted that Ali received 51 votes more than Jagdeo, suggesting he is more popular than Jagdeo at least among the delegates. The fact that he received more votes at Congress does not mean he is more liked or popular among voters nationally. The same holds true for Central Committee members ranked lower down the order among the 35. Jagdeo and Irfaan are a partnership, a powerful tag team very difficult to unseat from power.
My conversations revealed that Irfaan is more liked than Jagdeo among certain categories or groups of voters such as Muslims and Africans. I traveled around the country last week and again last February, November, October, August, and May in conducting surveys on popularity and varied contemporary issues. I can attest that both Irfaan and Jagdeo are enormously popular, almost equally, among the population, especially among supporters of PPP. Jagdeo had a slightly higher popularity than Irfaan who has been lagging behind Jagdeo among Hindus.
With regards to the Central Committee (CC) vote, I am not familiar with the process of selection of delegates to attend the Congress, the number of delegates in attendance, and the conduct of the voting and who has right to vote. Thus, I cannot comment on SN criticism of the process.
One should not attach much meaning on the fact that Irfaan scored slightly higher than Jagdeo — is number one and Jagdeo number 2 — from the vote at the Congress. Jagdeo was re-elected General Secretary or leader of the party, remaining the party boss, suggesting he is number one in the party in terms of power. He is the undisputed leader of the PPP and will lead the campaign for the incumbent party at next year’s general elections. The Jagdeo/Irfaan team is formidable and not easy to defeat, certainly not by an opposition led by Aubrey Norton who has virtually no support among cross over voters.
One should also not be misled by ranking of several other members in the Central Committee. Key individuals are in the CC. SN mentioned, for example, that the Congress vote showed Anil Nandlall surprisingly ranked lower than several individuals who have very low appeal among voters nationally. The Attorney General Nandlall remains extremely well liked nationally as does Minister Zulfikar Mustapha who is ranked number 3 and Vickram Bharrat ranked number 4, among others. Nigel Dharamlall, on the other hand, as do several other CC members, has serious challenges among voters. Jagdeo is a master strategist. I am certain he will address that matter.
Yours truly,
Dr Vishnu Bisram