-Clarke
The process to decide the PNCR’s presidential candidate is to be unveiled later this month even as the party is being accused of dragging its feet by postponing a General Council meeting scheduled for last month in contravention of its constitution.
General Secretary (GS) Oscar Clarke yesterday denied the claim which
appeared in a letter in the press earlier this week, authored by Harry Gill.
According to Gill, the quarterly meeting, which was scheduled for September 25, was postponed because the committee identified to recommend the process to select the presidential candidate was not functioning. Gill added that the failure to convene the meeting by last month end constituted a direct violation of the party’s constitution.
But at the party’s weekly press briefing yesterday, Clarke rejected the notion that the due date for the meeting had lapsed, stating that the General Council meeting would be held later this month.
“My answer to that is no, obviously it is no. There could be no previous date to which reference could be made if I say the General Council will meet in October; I’m the General Secretary of the party,” he declared. The second General Council meeting for 2010 was held on July 10 where a motion was adopted calling for the creation of the committee to identify the selection process.
The committee is responsible for recommending to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and the General Council the process which will be employed in identifying the presidential candidate of the party.
PNCR leader Robert Corbin has indicated that he will not be the party’s presidential candidate in next year’s general elections but he will retain the party leadership. Clarke dismissed the idea that the candidate could be overshadowed by the party leader’s influence. When questioned further about the existence of any mechanism to ensure the presidential candidate did not become a puppet of the party leader, Clarke accused the reporter of being “obnoxious.”
“I think that’s a rude question, I wouldn’t bother to answer it. I’ve already answered the question with respect to the party’s presidential candidate, how could you be so obnoxious?”
Clarke also stated he knew of no formal expression of interest for the party’s presidential candidacy since the still to be adopted selection process has not identified any candidate. Addressing the interest shown by Brigadier General (retd.) David Granger, Clarke said the party membership will decide if he should be their candidate.
“After the process throws up those persons it will be for the party membership to decide which of those persons thrown up it wants to endorse.
Should Mr. Granger be thrown up and then be endorsed then he would become the candidate of the party and as I said earlier, the party will support whoever is the candidate endorsed by the party,” he stated.
Granger on Wednesday confirmed reports that he had agreed to have his name submitted to the selection committee by a group within the PNCR. The other known presidential aspirant in the party is parliamentarian and former PNCR chairman Winston Murray who had unsuccessfully challenged Corbin for the party leadership in 2009.
The July motion resolved that the presidential candidate be identified, as early as possible, by a transparent system that includes wide consultation with bona-fide Party members, groups and supporters. It also stipulated that the process should include the identification of an inclusive group appointed by the CEC by August 31, 2010 to conduct consultation with the Party members, Party groups and supporters; that the person selected to be the Presidential Candidate have the full confidence of the membership of the PNCR, be of sound and unquestionable integrity, possess the skill, expertise and networking capability as well as command respect and support of Guyanese generally.
