Even though he is disappointed at losing the vote to become Presidential Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has thrown his support behind his comrade, Irfaan Ali, who won 24-11 Saturday.
Leaving the PPP’s Freedom House Headquarters following the vote of the Central Committee, Nandlall spoke to the media about his disappointment at not winning.
“Naturally, I am disappointed. You don’t ever enter a contest, thinking you will not win. I thought that I would have won but the Central Committee of the Party did not feel that way, they obviously voted in favour of Comrade Irfaan,” Nandlall told reporters outside Freedom House.
When asked about his disadvantages going up against Ali, the lawyer said: “I would not be able to say. You have to ask those who voted against me. I feel I would have been a good candidate; that is all I would like to say. Please respect that.”
He reiterated the PPP’s statement of committing to work towards the Party’s victory at the next general and regional elections.
The 35-member Central Committee voted via secret ballot.
Meanwhile, the PPP, in a statement, confirmed that immediately prior to the election of the Presidential Candidate, Dr. Frank Anthony, Dr. Vindhya Persaud and Gail Teixeira withdrew from the contest leaving Nandlall and Ali as the two contestants.
When asked why she withdrew from the race, Dr Persaud told reporters that there was a “process”.
“I think at this point, there was a process and the process was carried and it allowed the 35-member committee to vote by secret ballot and it allowed for two people to go to towards that process and for me the next step is looking at elections and the Party winning that elections,” Dr Persaud said.
She further explained that the decision was made based on many factors which she did not want to comment on.
When pressed further, Dr Persaud clarified that she was not pressured to withdraw.
Dr Persaud shut down the question that the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha – which is one of Guyana’s largest hindu organisations – will discriminate against Ali because he is Muslim.
“I think in this country, irrespective of this process, we have never had a history in this country of having religious intolerance and I have always been at the forefront in advocating for religious unity and also, not only tolerance, respect and understanding.
“So I don’t think anybody’s religion should be focused on in this because at the end of the day, we are all Guyanese,” Dr Persaud said.
In addition to being a PPP member and Parliamentarian, Dr Persaud is also the head of the hindu organization.
The PPP is in full campaign mode as it gears up for general and regional elections after successfully passing a No-Confidence Motion against the three-year coalition government on December 21, 2018, trigging early elections.
The No-Confidence vote is now subject to court proceedings and the High Court is scheduled to hand down a ruling by the end of this month.
