Tag Archives: Ralph Ramkarran

Guyana Politics: Three small parties won’t trade lawmaking seats for gov’t positions…

— consensus key to parliamentary voting

(left to right) Lenox Shuman of the Liberty and Justice Party, Asha Kissoon of The New Movement and A New and United Guyana’s Ralph Ramkarran sign their memorandum of understanding on the joinder of their lists.

Three of Guyana’s small parties have agreed that their parliamentarians will not join the governing party in exchange for ministerial or other governmental office.

In a memorandum of understanding (MOU), A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) and The New Movement (TNM) agreed that they will “not give a minority government a majority.”    Continue reading

Guyana Politics: Jagdeo flayed for ‘crass’ display

— Prime Minister Nagamootoo and Ralph Ramkarran urge maturity

Bharrat Jagdeo

Guyana Chronicle – March 4, 2018:  FORMER PPP executive and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, has criticised Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s announcement that he will turn down a meeting on election matters with President David Granger on March 6 on election matters.

Jagdeo last Thursday at his weekly press briefing, cited two letters which were sent to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman by the President, saying they were doctored, and as such, he will ignore the President’s invitation.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon has already refuted the claims made by Jagdeo as malicious, deceitful and bewildering.      Continue reading

A New and United Guyana (ANUG) to be launched on January 18.

—  Beni Sankar on steering committee

A New and United Guyana is set for launching on January 18.  A statement issued by the group today follows: 

STATEMENT

The Steering Committee of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) comprising Kian Jabour, Henry Jeffrey, Timothy Jonas, Ralph Ramkarran and Beni Sankar, met on Friday January 11, to discuss the general political situation and ANUG’s policies and programmes.          Continue reading

Guyana: New political party – A NEW AND UNITED GUYANA – formed – 2 reports

-Ramkarran, Jeffrey, Timothy Jonas, Terrence Campbell key figures

A new political party helmed by former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran, political consultant Dr Henry Jeffrey, attorney Timothy Jonas, and businessman Terrence Campbell will be launched in the coming days with constitutional reform for inclusive governance the cornerstone of its platform.        Continue reading

Ramson most likely interrupted a “carefully orchestrated selection process” for PPP presidential candidate – Ramkarran

Ralph Ramkarran

Ramkarran, a former long-standing member of the PPP, made his view known in his most recent column.

There, he acknowledged that Ramson recently announced publicly that he would seek the PPP’s nomination to be its presidential candidate for the 2020 general elections. But, Jagdeo chided Ramson and said that he deviated from party principles.            Continue reading

Guyana: Jagdeo slams GAWU President’s position on sugar talks with govt + Video

Jagdeo slams GAWU President’s position on sugar talks with govt

Komal Chand – GAWU

General Secretary of the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday publicly rejected positive statements by the President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand about talks with President David Granger.

While Jagdeo insisted that the PPP “has no rift” with GAWU, he appeared to send a strong signal that he would not mind the now aged Chand and other union elders removed. “We will support the union there. You have a lot of good, strong, young, bright leaders of GAWU who will have a great future in building that union and keeping it relevant,” he said.     Continue reading

WE DID NOT WANT TO KNOW – by Dave Martins + music videos

Dave Martins

WE DID NOT WANT TO KNOW – by Dave Martins

October 29, 2017

In an earlier comment about song-writing I made the point that while talent has to be there, the more critical quality is observation because that is almost always the ingredient that sets a song apart; the writer has turned a light on something in the society, or in an individual, that would have otherwise escaped the rest of us in the populace.

In fact, to look at the popular columnists or commentators in our local press – Freddie Kissoon, Ralph Ramkarran, Henry Jeffrey, Adam Harris, Christopher Ram, Ian McDonald, etc. – is to see this taking place as each writer brings us to something, or an aspect of something, that is new or revealing or thought-provoking.      Continue reading

Ethnic Division Dilemma – by Dave Martins

Ethnic Division Dilemma – by Dave Martins

Dave Martins

Dave Martins

From a boy of 10 or so, growing up on West Dem, it was there in front of me – the difference between Indians and blacks, what we refer to today as the ethnic divide; I never heard the term back then. Only on my return here did I come to understand the depth of this rift, and the dilemma it poses for Guyana. In the wake of the election, several prominent voices, including our former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran, have addressed the resolution of this topic; Freddie Kissoon in Kaieteur News has recently written a stirring column on the subject, citing East Indian myopia; I urge all Guyanese to read those columns.  Continue reading

Update from Moray House Trust: July 2015 – includes videos

For Guyanese Online

Moray House Trust

Moray House Trust

Update from Moray House Trust: July 2015

On a rainy evening in mid-July, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, a specialist on Caribbean and hemispheric security, drugs and crime, spoke about ‘Regime Change and Expectations Management: Crime and other quotidian security challenges facing Guyana.

Professor Griffith invoked Dickens, Voltaire and Martin Carter in the course of his arguments. He reminded us that we have the dubious distinction in Guyana of one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world. Our homicide rate is also very high. These, and many other strands, weave together to form the ‘landscape of anxiety’ that prevails, the backdrop to our daily lives.  Continue reading

JACK GLADSTONE – by Ralph Ramkarran

Jack Gladstone

Ralph Ramkarran

Ralph Ramkarran

Posted on August 1, 2015 by

The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823 was a seminal event in the history of slave resistance in British Guiana and in the colonial world. Its stark exposure, once again, of the horrors of slavery speeded up its demise even as growing mercantilist trends were ravaging its economic foundations. Jack Gladstone was the Rebellion’s principal organizer and leading militant.

While he has not been forgotten by history, his monumental, though costly, contribution to the abolition of slavery in 1838 and the advancement of freedom is little known. Professor da Costa’s book, Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823, restores Jack Gladstone’s place in the narrative of resistance; but popular recognition and full knowledge of his role have still eluded his contribution to the freedom struggle.  Continue reading