The disciplinary hearing into charges of misconduct levelled against former PNCR Central Executive Committee (CEC) member James McAllister began on Saturday last in his absence after McAllister, in a letter to the committee, refused to attend the hearing.
He had previously been summoned twice to attend meetings of the PNCR’s Disciplinary Committee, but had been out of the country on both occasions.
In his letter (a copy of which Stabroek News has seen), McAllister said he believed the charges against him were intended to achieve a political objective and it was therefore not possible for him to attend the hearing.
McAllister was one of seven former CEC members who did not support Robert Corbin’s re-election as leader of the party, instead supporting former CEC member Vincent Alexander for the position. McAllister and the others along with executive members of the party’s youth membership had launched a public campaign to support Alexander’s bid.
According to McAllister’s letter, Team Alexander had “presented evidence to the party’s Central Executive Committee that a large number of membership forms, including forms for dead persons, were forged. In response to our demands, the party publicly committed to the verification of the membership roll immediately after the congress since time did not permit it being done before. However, to date no effort has been made to have the membership verified.”
He said he was “advised that knowledge of the veracity of our allegations with respect to the membership roll is a necessary condition for the disciplinary committee to proceed. This makes verification of the membership roll a requirement.
“In the absence of verification of the membership roll, the integrity of the entire process that resulted in the appointment of the disciplinary committee remains shrouded in a cloud of dubiety.”
McAllister said he also noted that two members of the disciplinary committee had been active in Corbin’s campaign for party leader at the last congress. In addition, he said, it was widely known that one of the members was integrally involved in falsification of thousands of membership forms. “The fact that these persons are members of the committee demonstrates that there is no commitment to, or desire for, a process that is impartial,” he said.
He added that the lack of commitment to a process that was impartial was borne out by many incidents of serious misconduct that have not been unsanctioned.
Among the incidents, he said, was that known members of the present CEC, including a member of the disciplinary committee, had brought the party into disrepute by mounting a massive exercise to create close to 15,000 fraudulent membership applications. “This corrupt practice constitutes serious misconduct but no effort is being made to sanction the guilty persons,” he said.
He said, too, that a number of persons who had supported Corbin’s bid to retain the top leadership post of the party demonstrated sustained vulgar and profane behaviour at the congress in full view of the leadership of the party. “They have not been sanctioned but Randy Nurse [a former GYSM chairman and a member of Team Alexander at the time] has been barred from holding party office for his role in an altercation with another member.”
McAllister said these actions demonstrated that there was no real aspiration to address misconduct. “For this reason I must conclude that the charges against me are intended to achieve a political objective. The composition of the committee guarantees that this objective will be achieved. I therefore wish to advise that it is not possible for me to attend the hearing under the prevailing circumstances,” he said.
Reiterating his commitment to the lofty principles on which Team Alexander campaigned, he said he was committed to the transformation of the PNCR into a modern political party that was transparent and democratic.
“I, like my colleagues, believe that the party needs to re-establish itself at the community and village level and that party offices must be community service centers available for the use by all Guyanese,” he said.
Stabroek News understands that at Saturday’s meeting, PNCR-1G Chief Whip Lance Carberry gave evidence against McAllister not informing him about abstaining from voting in favour of the recall legislation last year. PNCR CEC member Mervin Williams, who succeeded McAllister, also gave evidence against him.
The committee is scheduled to meet once again on Saturday.
Asked what he thought was likely to be the outcome of the hearings, McAllister said that “the meeting and so-called hearings, in my opinion, are a formality. The objective is recall. It is not rocket science.”
He said, “Quite frankly, one must be prepared to pay for principle and that is the price I am prepared to pay.” (Miranda La Rose)
