SPECULATION is rife that Ramkalawan may step down as leader of the SNP soon, paving the way for the heir apparent to be installed at the head of the party as leader. After 15 years at the top and losing four consecutive Presidential elections, it is generally felt that Ramakalawan has served his purpose and may have very well outlived his “sell by” date. As such he cannot offer anything new to the party as he has taken it as far as he possibly can with the help of his right hand man, Mr. Roger Mancienne. With the recent departure of Annette Georges, his running mate in the Presidential elections, Ramkalawan's position as the leader of the SNP is becoming increasingly untenable.
As a result, speculation is rife as to who would succeed him. The SNP is known to have a leadership crisis as Ramkalawan's favourite choice, the 40-year-old David Pierre, has never won any election outright and is seen by many as not being ready to take over the helm of the party. This leaves the field wide open for people like Jean Francois Ferrari, Bernard Georges and Alain Ste Ange to fight it out to the very end for the leadership of the party.
Bernard Georges scored more votes than any other Executive Committee Member at the last SNP Convention and seems to be the natural heir apparent. However, Ramkalawan has refused to install Georges as his number two as it is commonly accepted that Georges is easily more intelligent, astute and shrewd than Ramkalawan. As such Ramkalawan genuinely fears being outwitted and out maneuvered by the former. Georges is also more tolerant of the rogue faction within the SNP rank who seems intent on anarchy and self destruction. If it came to a political dog fight though, Georges is expected not to throw his hat in the ring as he is reluctant to show his true political ambition in public in the event that it comes to a political show down.
Jean Francois Ferrari is the heart and soul of the party and he is not afraid to lambast the SPPF at each and every given opportunity. He is highly respected for his political bravery, courage and care-free attitude to politics. Whether he has the organizational skill to keep the cohesiveness of the SNP together long after Ramkalawan has turned his back on the party, is yet to be seen.
His only handicap though is his name which weighs him down like a cast iron ball around his ankle and it remains to been seen if the opposition supporters will eventually warm up to him. However, a convenient alliance with Antony Derjacques, the brain of the party, may see him prevail against all the odds, provided he is prepared to ditch the uninspiring Mancienne as Secretary General and opt for Derjacques instead.
As for Alain Ste Ange, he is credited to have done a phenomenal job at Bel Air, winning the seat outright after the SPPF had held on to it successfully in previous elections.
Ste Ange is also known to be an experienced, bright, smart and sharp politician having been moulded at a young age by Albert Rene and his party. He walked away from politics briefly after he fell out with the impulsive Ramkalawan but has since started to show some interest in politics of late.
Perhaps, he is intuitive enough to foresee a political vacuum emerging within the SNP leadership. Being a known pragmatist, this may very well be his chance to assert his authority and assume the pinnacle of his beloved SNP.