One week after releasing conflicting statements, the members of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) yesterday met and deliberated on not one but two motions brought against party leader David Granger.
“There were two motions and they are now resolutions. One from Georgetown and one from the East Coast which expressed a lack of confidence in Mr Granger among others things. These motions are now resolutions,” one source told Stabroek News.
On July 15, a statement signed by the CEC was issued minutes before a 10th anniversary celebration of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) accused Granger of turning the party into a one-man show.
The statement specifically noted that the party did not sanction Granger’s acceptance of “two shell parties” – the Equal Rights and Justice Party and the Guyana National Builders Movement – into APNU.
“The actions… are without any doubt unconstitutional and an affront to the membership of our Party. He will not be allowed to reduce the PNCR into a One Man Show. We know nothing about these parties! They were never launched nationally, and we are unaware of what benefits they bring for the PNCR to even consider accepting them into the Partnership. That’s why we suspect them as shell parties,” the members declared while claiming that the CEC had directed Granger and party General Secretary Amna Ally to put on hold any further involvement of the PNCR with the APNU until the status of that Partnership was fully discussed and decisions on the way forward are taken.
The statement has been endorsed by party chair Volda Lawrence and elected CEC members Richard Van West-Charles, Aubrey Norton and Winston Felix.
Two days later Jennifer Ferreira-Dougal and Annette Ferguson, two of 15 Congress-elected members of the PNCR Central Executive Committee (CEC), along with Shurwayne Holder; Ganesh Mahipaul and Ernest Elliott, the regional representatives for regions Two, Three and Four, respectively, issued another statement claiming that the elected members of the CEC were “dismayed” by Thursday’s release.
“We denounce, most emphatically, the personal attacks against our constitutionally-elected Party Leader, Mr. David Granger, by a minority of persons who did not have the courage to affix their names to the ‘Statement’ but who claimed, cowardly, to write on behalf of the entire CEC,” they stated, adding that the CEC had not reached a decision on the issue which the “minority” has complained about.
They contended that the decision by opposition coalition APNU—of which the PNCR is the largest member— to include two new parties was made by the APNU executive at a meeting to which PNCR Chair Volda Lawrence was invited but did not attend.
Granger has not publicly responded to either statement but during his address at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of APNU on Thursday, he twice acknowledged the two contested parties, declaring that APNU encourages the formation of small parties.
Lawrence, who had not been selected for the current Parliament by Granger, was noticeably absent.
Following Granger’s snub of Lawrence and several other senior PNCR members for a seat in the 12th Parliament, a keen power struggle began to take shape within the party.
It is expected that once the delayed congress is finally held, the current leader will face strong opposition from Lawrence and several others.
