Presidency influenced Ganga Persaud’s resignation- Rohee

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee on Monday said Ganga Persaud’s resignation as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development was influenced by the Office of the President because of undisclosed problems.
 
“Whatever position the government took, Office of the President in this particular case, took in the matter and once we were involved in the consultative process, I have absolutely no difficulty with the decision of the President to sever the Comrade’s relationship with the Cabinet,” Rohee told a news conference.

In contrast to Persaud’s position that he resigned voluntarily for personal reasons, Rohee said the PPP supported the presidency in severing ties with the minister with effect January 31.

“If there was an act of indiscretion, if there was an act of dishonesty, whatever the act may have been that would have led the Office of the President taking that decision, the party goes along with it,” Rohee said.

President Donald Ramotar at a news conference last weekend refused to say whether he had asked Persaud to quit the ministerial post.

Persaud announced his resignation last week Thursday while the National Assembly was sitting. He was absent.

The General Secretary would not be drawn into comment about the nature of the allegation against Persaud. He was, however, very cagey when asked specific questions about whether an aspect of Persaud’s personal lifestyle had anything to do with it. He acknowledged that he was very careful about responding to such questions because they were treading on “extremely sensitive grounds” and could determine his answers. At one stage, Rohee refused to answer any question on the matter.

Rohee reiterated that the PPP was concerned about all government ministers committing acts of indiscretion, impropriety, dishonesty and corruption while carrying out their ministerial responsibilities. At the same time, he was unable to say whether Persaud was guilty of any of those and referred said such questions should be posed to the Office of the President.

Saying that the PPP had not intention of letting go of Persaud, the General Secretary noted that the outgoing minister was a likely candidate for the PPP’s elections committee given his wealth of experience. Persaud remains a member of the PPP’s Central Committee