More support for Constitution change
Stabroek News
July 21, 2002
The proposals to remove Marxism/Leninism from the People's Progressive Party's Constitution has garnered support from another central committee member, Bheri Ramsarran, as well as the Groenveldt PPP Group, as delegates meet for the party's 27th congress in Rose Hall.
Ramsarran proposes that the term Marxism/Leninism be removed from the party's constitution and be replaced with "philosophy, programme, principles and policies of the party," whereas the Groenveldt Group wants the term to be replaced with "constitutional and national democratic principles."
The Groenveldt Group also proposes that wherever the term 'democratic centralism' appears in the party's constitution, the words "transparency, accountability, equality and the rule of law" be substituted.
Ramsarran has also put forward a proposition in this regard, namely, to insert the term 'democratic compact' in place of "democratic centralism."
A number of proposals to amend the party's constitution were expected to be discussed today at the PPP's congress which opened yesterday, and included in these are the list of proposals by the Section 'K' Campbellville Group to democratize the party.
Sources told Stabroek News at the congress yesterday that most of the proposals by the Section 'K' Campbellville Group, headed by attorney-at-law and central committee member Khemraj Ramjattan, are being put to the floor today.
These include having the constitution changed to allow for the party executive to include a leader, a chairman and a general secretary; to have a minimum number of seats on the central committee being reserved for residents of Berbice and Essequibo; and to have seven seats reserved for women, in order to give effective geographical and gender representation to the central committee. All of these positions have to be voted for by congress, the highest decision-making body of the party.
This group also wants the term socialist/socialism removed from the party's constitution and replaced with the expression "national democratic."
Stabroek News further understands that the PPP Campbellville Group and Ramsarran are also seeking to have the First Secretary of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) and the General Secretary of the Women's Progressive Organisation endorsed as members of the Central Committee. The Campbellville Group also wants chairpersons of all regional committees to be a part of that committee with none of these endorsed members being given the right to vote.
Ramsarran, on the other hand, is reported to be seeking to have the General Secretary of the PYO made a member of central committee as well.
The Ramjattan group wants the Central Committee only to comprise the 35 elected members of congress with a minimum allocation for regional and gender representation.
As it stands now, only the elected members of the Central Committee are allowed to vote and candidates elected at congress are allowed to attend its meetings.
There is expected to be a political resolution and declaration before the session closes this afternoon.