Former Chairman of the PNCR Winston Murray will be contesting for Leader of the PNCR at the party’s upcoming Biennial Congress.
Murray told this newspaper last evening that he had accepted the nomination yesterday after being encouraged to do so by a number of persons within the party. Yesterday had been identified as the deadline for all persons who were nominated to confirm whether they intended to contest the elections at the Congress, which is slated for August 21-22. Murray’s decision is seen as an important development in light of the disaffection with the leadership of Robert Corbin and the need for the party to present a new image to the public in the wake of several demoralizing occurrences – particularly the crushing defeat at the 2006 general elections.
Murray disclosed that a number of persons had approached him saying that since he had been nominated he should accept. According to him, now that he has decided to contest for the top leadership of the party, he will now have to do an assessment of what the response is to his candidacy and hence determine the level of support and the way forward.
Significantly, this is not the first time that Murray has been nominated for this position but he had declined nominations on the previous occasions.
When asked about the electoral process and about the concerns raised by another of the candidates for leader, Dr Richard Van West-Charles, Murray said that he is hopeful that everything will be resolved to the satisfaction of all involved. He said that he was not fully aware of the concerns expressed by Dr. Van West Charles but added that it was important that the image of the party did not suffer during this process.
Murray has been a long-serving member of the PNC. He held senior Government positions during the PNC’s time in office, even serving as Senior Minister and then as Deputy Prime Minister between 1985-1992. He also served as Head of the Presidential Secretariat in 1985, Head of the Department of International Economic Cooperation from 1983-1984 and as Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Trade from 1983-1984. Murray also had a stint in the Diplomatic Service at the Guyana Embassy in Brussels.
He was elected Chairman of the Party at the Special Congress in February 2003, after the death of former President and Leader of the PNCR Desmond Hoyte.
Murray resigned from his post at Chairman last year owing to the party’s public departure from a position he took on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. However, he continues to serve as the party’s shadow Finance Minister in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, former Health Minister Dr Van West-Charles is the only other of the nominees who has confirmed that he will run for the leadership position. He has repeatedly raised concerns about the electoral process to be employed at the upcoming Congress. However, the party, at a press conference on Friday said that it has been implementing measures to ensure that the election process at the upcoming Congress is transparent.
When Stabroek News contacted incumbent Robert Corbin last evening, he said that he has not responded to the nomination as yet and said that he continues to be busy looking after more critical issues relating to the Roger Khan saga. He said that at the appropriate time the General Secretary of the Party Oscar Clarke would make the appropriate announcement regarding the candidates.
Another nominee Aubrey Norton told Stabroek News that he has not responded to any of the nominations and said that he will make his official position known at a later date. Norton has publicly been at loggerheads with Corbin and other members of the party, ever since Volda Lawrence defeated him at the party’s Georgetown District Elections. Norton has disputed the results of those elections.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with another of the nominees, Basil Williams. However, sources have told this newspaper that Williams is not interested in contesting for the Party’s leadership.
The other nominee for the post is Dr Aubrey Armstrong who was expected in the country on Sunday, but efforts to contact him proved futile.