‘I was not parachuted into the ministry’

Dear Editor, I write to dismiss Mr Clement Rohee’ s proposition, in his SN letter of June 20, that “Vincent Alexander was parachuted into the Ministry of Education, unbeknownst to the WPA, to understudy Minister Roopnarine” (‘The WPA should have called for a meeting of the Governing Leadership Council of APNU’).

Having been relieved of the position of General Secretary of the PPP and consequentially of the press coverage now enjoyed by Mr Bharrat Jagdeo, Mr Rohee has taken to letter writing and pontificating on the inner workings of political parties, other than his own. It is however quite apparent that his postulations are sometimes unfounded, presumptuous and even mischievous, as will be made obvious from what I have to say.

Alexander’s sojourn at the Ministry of Education was at the direct and personal request of Dr Roopnaraine. Hence, I was appointed as Technical Facilitator, a preexisting position, to the Minister. As a consequence of his removal and as a matter of ethics, protocol and best practices, his removal, in my judgement, automatically brings my sojourn to an end, and so shall it be. I was not parachuted into the ministry by some other force nor was I understudying Dr Roopnaraine. This however has no bearing on unrelated appointments that I hold in the education or other sectors, eg Chairman of the National Accreditation Council.

May I take this opportunity to remind Mr Rohee and the public that as of 2007 I have not been a member of any political party nor an aspirant to office in any political party.

May I take this opportunity to renew my invitation to Mr Rohee, now that he is no longer General Secretary of the PPP, to have non-partisan discourse on matters of national interest. Yours faithfully, Vincent Alexander