By Tracey Khan – Drakes
[www.inewsguyana.com] – General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Clement Rohee has refused to offer any comments on the comparison made by former President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Party’s founder, the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s lifestyle to that of its current Ministers/officials.
Jagdeo recently addressed concerns about Government Ministers earning super salaries and living in big houses, where he noted that Dr Jagan did not live in squalor but rather had a nice home on a prime property.
Jagdeo’s comparison drew heavy criticisms by many, including Dr. Jagan’s daughter, Nadira Jagan, who in a letter noted that her father never lived in a mansion.
At the Party’s weekly press conference today, Rohee was reluctant to comment on the letter in the press by Dr. Jagan’s daughter; instead he made it clear that, “whenever the General Secretary of this Party speaks, it has heavy political weight and therefore I would not wish to make any further statement on that matter; that is my prerogative as the General Secretary of the Party and as the GS of the Party I am therefore exercising my prerogative to answer or not to answer questions.”
When asked whether he believes that the Party will be affected at the upcoming elections as a result of the remarks by Dr. Jagan’s children that the PPP has strayed away from its founder’s principles, Rohee said: “I prefer to recall the famous singer Jimmy Cliff, who said, time will tell.”
Jagdeo’s remarks were also criticized by Former Executive member of the Party, Ralph Ramkarran who upbraided him for equating his current lifestyle to that of the late president.