Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), former President David Granger sent shock-waves through his party and constituency when he advised yesterday that he had gone on an indefinite leave of absence from the party.
Stabroek News has been able to confirm that Granger wrote to the party leadership about proceeding on leave with effect from September 1. There has been no indication of when he will return. In his absence party chair Volda Lawrence will assume the position of leader.
The move to proceed on indefinite leave is unprecedented for a party leader and comes amid rumblings in the party over his leadership.
“He has gone on a leave of absence and in keeping with the party constitution the Chairperson will take up the position of party leader,” a source within the party explained to this newspaper.
Party spokesperson Kim Chung later confirmed that Granger had proceeded on leave.
“The Party Leader has confirmed that he is on a leave of absence from September 1st. He also stated that he has written to both the Party Chairman and the General Secretary (Amna Ally) with confir-mation by the Opposition Leader (Joseph Harmon) to the media,” Chung told this newspaper.
Granger who has held the position of party leader since 2011 has over the last year faced criticism from both inside and outside of the party. Following the attempts by elections officials and others to rig the 2020 elections in his favour, his leadership has been severely criticised by local and international observers. Most recently those within the party have also questioned his leader-ship and suggested that attempts are being made to delay the holding of Congress as he would likely face a serious challenge for the position of leader.
Nevertheless his decision to proceed on leave has come as a surprise.
Former General Secretary of the party, Oscar Clarke explained that no PNCR leader has ever before made a formal application for leave.
“I’ve worked with all the party leaders and I’ve never heard of any applying for formal leave. Of course leaders have been on ‘leave’ or been away for various periods. In such cases the executive com-mittee will know and the chair will step up to man the ship but I’ve never seen a formal application or an open ended leave,” he explained.
Asked if this could have any impact on the party’s overdue Congress, Clarke said no.
“It shouldn’t in my view. There is a congress committee which organises the congress and reports to the executive. The leader is part of the reporting process and the discussion but he is not a member of the congress committee,” he said.
Long-serving party member and former Prime Minister Hamilton Green expressed similar sentiments.
“I’m not aware of that ever happening before, not aware of a precedent but suffice to say that all party leaders have gone on leave to relax and so forth. People going on leave is traditional but a formal application is new for the party,” he shared.
Diagnosed
In November 2018, Granger was diagnosed in Cuba with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and underwent medical interventions and a first round of chemo-therapy. He thereafter proceeded to Havana for several more rounds of chemotherapy and in January 2020 was declared by his doctors there to be in good health.
Following the loss of the March 2020 general elections which was only finally declared in August that year after a five-month delay, Granger appeared to want to determine who would be his successor as PNCR Leader. He ousted party veterans including Lawrence from the list of MPs leading to the declaration of Harmon as Opposition Leader. How-ever, analysts have noted that Harmon has no base in the PNCR and would be easily picked off by Lawrence in any contest for leadership of the party.
Analysts say this is the reason why attempts have been made to delay the Congress which it now appears will have to be convened before the end of the year. Granger’s going on leave gives him a way to exit any likely contest at the Congress.
In July this year, Lawrence endorsed a statement issued by members of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) critisising Granger and General Secretary Ally for ignoring collective decisions.
“The CEC is the decision making body between the General Council and Congress hence it has the power to call meetings and make statements. The Statement issued is legitimate and correct. The matter was discussed at our last CEC where both the Leader and General Secretary were present and they, like all members present, did not object to the CEC Decision. I therefore endorse the statement by the CEC,” Lawrence communicated to Stabroek News via her campaign manager James Bond.
The CEC members’ statement, which was issued minutes before the 10th anniversary celebration of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), had also been endorsed by Richard Van West- Charles and former General Secretary Aubrey Norton. Both of these men have also expressed their willingness to contest for the post of party leader “if nominated” at the impending party Congress.
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 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.
Despite this mandate, Granger publicly advertised that the PNCR has accepted these two parties as part of the APNU. The former president is accused of further disregarding a reminder by “affixing the symbols of these two non-approved parties onto a programme purported to be that of the APNU for its 10th Anniversary Celebrations.”
