PPP to hold congress later this year

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) will be holding its next congress in the last quarter of the year (2016).

General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee today disclosed that the PPP’s Central Committee “resolved unanimously to hold its 31^st Congress in the last quarter of the year (2016) in keeping with the Party’s Constitution” during its meeting on Saturday, June 4, 2016.

Being the opposition this time around, he noted that a new perspective will be developed. “Now that we are in opposition, we would like to regain political power,” the General Secretary said. He emphasized the need to broaden the reach of the Party with respect to significant stakeholders and the society.

He added that the party will now establish a Congress Committee that would be responsible for the agenda and other plans.

Other matters discussed at the recent meeting of the Central Committee includes efforts to strengthen the Party organizationally, to improve Party discipline as well as the unity and cohesion of its entire membership.

It also discussed the global economy which appears to be in the throes of another crisis in the financial sector and what it termed as “the economic and social decline that characterised the first year of the Granger-led APNU-AFC coalition,” the volatile political situation in the neighbouring countries of Venezuela and Brazil and the severe socio-economic impact it is having on the lives of working people and the current political situation in the country.

Note was also taken of attempts by certain elements to sow the seeds of discord within the leadership of the Party, Rohee added, highlighting that the Party is strong in its resolve to counter any such attempt.

The Central Committee expressed satisfaction over the performance of the Party in the recent Local Government elections, he said, condemning efforts to undermine the elected RDCs (Regional Democratic Councils) and NDCs (Neighborhood Democratic Councils) controlled by the PPP/C.

Recently, there were speculation in relation to the possibility of congress this year. In his blog, the former Speaker of the National Assembly and former PPP stalwart Ralph Ramkarran speculated that for different reasons, the two most powerful persons in the PPP; Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and Rohee, would not see any benefits to them from a Congress at this time.