PNCR leader Robert Corbin has threatened party executive Aubrey Norton with a libel suit over accusations made about the controversial Georgetown District Confer-ence voting last Sunday.
Norton, who has said the process that saw him voted out of the Georgetown District Chairmanship was fraudulent, received a letter from Corbin alleging that he had libelled him in comments made to the Stabroek News. “Unless I read a public retraction and receive an apology from you, I will instruct my attorneys to seek redress in the Courts,” Corbin wrote to Norton, in the letter dated July 1, 2009.
But Norton yesterday told Stabroek News that he had not said anything “libellous” and is “not apologising.” Further, he added that if Corbin proceeded with the suit, he would see him in court.
Norton has said that the voting process that saw him losing the chairmanship of the Georgetown District to party co-chair Volda Lawrence-who was widely believed to be backed by Corbin-was fraudulent. He lost the vote, 96 to 220.
Corbin, however, has maintained that the vote was transparent, saying while three complaints were lodged with the returning officer and would be investigated they had noting to do with a discrepancy in the vote.
Moreover, saying that he was present for the voting process and would be “aware if any fraudulent activities occurred,” Corbin asserted that the vote was transparent. He also said the party is willing to investigate any claims of fraud should a formal complaint be made. Commenting briefly on the process itself, he stated that the representatives from both sides accompanied the ballots to have them counted. With respect to the results, he said that there was no word of any dissent from Norton and his supporters.
According to Norton, he had complained about the process before Sunday, as he saw blatant cases of padding of the voters’ list. He also said that 300 delegates were not present on voting day and as such it was surprising that the tally of votes reflected that more than 300 persons voted.
Stabroek News was present at Congress Place when chaos erupted as delegates shouted at each other, charging that some persons were receiving more ballots than others, while others were not receiving any.
Returning Officer Robert Williams was heard calling on persons to return the extra ballot papers after the distribution to the delegates. And Norton said he had cause to complain about the Brickdam group, which Lawrence and others said had a hundred members when he knew it had just about 30. He charged that other groups were created so as to pad the voters’ list.
Many persons, including Norton, stormed out of the party’s headquarters long before the voting was completed. “Everybody saw that the process was fraudulent,” Norton said, adding that there was no roll call before the votes were cast and as such there was no way of knowing how many delegates were present.
He charged that persons supportive of Lawrence were given more than one ballot and also questioned why more ballot papers than delegates were printed.
The Georgetown District sends the most delegates to the congress of the party and Sunday’s outcome is believed to be pivotal to Corbin retaining his post at the party’s upcoming biennial congress in August. Lawrence is seen as a Corbin ally and someone who could promote his candidacy.
Sources say had Norton won he would have been in a better position to mount a leadership challenge. The last congress had already seen an acrimonious parting between the Corbin faction and Team Alexander – led by Vincent Alexander – and culminated in the recall of James McAllister from Parliament.
