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‘Arrogance and complacency cost the PPP last year’s elections,’ screamed the headline in Stabroek News of January 1, reporting on the year-end press conference of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, now Leader of the Opposition. He is reported to have said that ‘there was a severe disconnect between the party and its supporters on the ground’ […]

AMAILA FAILED BECAUSE PUBLIC RELATIONS WERE IGNORED

An uncharted situation faced the new government after the 2011 elections. Having decided to go it alone as a minority government, a plan for governance designed to create some consensus was expected to unfold. An unstructured tripartite committee was announced but it lost credibility because the government refused to have serious consultations on the 2012 […]

NOTES ON POST-CONGRESS EVENTS

The recent Congress of the PPP concluded just as was predicted by me in a recent article (“The PPP’s 30th Congress). There were lots of applause, the Central Committee Report was adopted unanimously, poor organizational work was declared to be responsible for the 2011 electoral defeat, the Opposition and some other ‘enemies’ were identified and […]

THE PPP CONGRESS, AMAILA AND THEIR AFTERMATH

The Amaila Falls Hydro Project became a victim of Guyana’s political culture. The new Cheddi Jagan Airport and the Specialty Hospital are now in jeopardy. It is not known how the PPP came about the idea that it can move these projects forward in the National Assembly without a far higher degree of collaboration and […]

THE DAY I RESIGNED FROM THE PPP.

It was a Saturday morning, June 30, 2011, just over a year ago. I had gone to bed the night before at 7.30 pm, never so early as far as I remember. I opened one of the partially read books at my bedside but could barely concentrate. My wife, Janet, joined me at 9 pm, […]