Opposition MP roasts former colleagues

ROOKIE ALLIANCE FOR CHANGE (AFC) PARLIAMENTARIAN DEONARINE
‘RICKY’ RAMSAROOP CHASTISES two former party law makers thrashing them as useless
during their tenure in the Legislative Assembly.
Ramsaroop’s aggressive remarks which he directs at former Members of Parliament (MPs) Mr.
Audwin Rutherford and Mr. Reynard Ward blames them for contributing nothing at all to
improve the party which forms the coalition party with the major A Partnership for National
Unity (APNU) led by former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Brigadier (ret’d) Mr. David
Granger.
APNU+AFC was in government between 2015 and 2020 but lost March 2020 polls to the Irfaan
Ally-led Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) coalition.
Ramsaroop says neither Rutherford nor Ward took the time to articulate views on any prominent
national issue in the local media. In his recent interview with www.aroundtheregions.com he
notes that “I can’t recall seeing anything written, letter to the Editor or anything about an issue
that this person is representing. But I see that they have issues in their resignation letters…and
that is bad”.
In his letter of resignation to AFC General Secretary, Mr. David Patterson, Ward noted in part
that “I don’t share the belief that the party holds that key anymore and has now locked itself
inside that door and in a broken, abusive and one-sided relationship that was not supported by
many,”
For his part, Rutherford in a blistering missive decried his former party executives for muzzling
themselves when it comes to representing the party’s position on national issues. Worse,
Rutherford said the party displayed slavish compliance to the Peoples National Congress (PNC)
the largest party in the APNU+AFC administration.

“The AFC seems to have no independent (voice) – the party has lost its way and seems
comfortable being subservient to PNCR. This attitude is particularly pronounced in Region 10.
To compound matters the executives of the party were prepared to not have the Regional Vice
Chairman in Region 10 – this posture I think is disrespectful to, particularly, the long serving
members,” according to Rutherford’s letter of resignation.
Ramsaroop doesn’t share the sentiments of his former party colleagues.
“If you want to resign you go. You do the honourable thing. All you (Rutherford and Ward)
doing is burning bridges…the other political parties will not trust you on how you are acting,”
the plain-spoken MP advised.
Rutherford dismisses what he sees as Ramsaroop’s diatribes.
“I will not have a tit for tat with Ricky and or the AFC as I am comfortable with the decision that
I would have made and my decision was long in coming.”
“I want any AFC person to recall a couple of things: I was not present and deliberately so at
AFC’s RMC elections 2019 and they should put that against all of my attendances at Regional
Management Committee (RCM) meetings. I was present at 99 of those RMC meetings and I
cannot recall being absent from any other RMC meeting so that was a clear indication that I
would not be vying for any position. The second thing one should note, is that in the run-up for
selection of MPs myself, Mr. Michael Carrington and Ms. Valerie Garrido-Lowe clearly stated
that we would not want to be MPs. Further, I said that I would not be involved in the process of
selection,” Rutherford recalls.
“It doesn’t bother me what took place at the RMC election in Linden recently doesn’t bother me
and if I should make any observation, I would say maybe they are growing in the sense that
every member of that (new) executive didn’t exist prior to 2015 so that shows newness and
growth,” Rutherford declares.