As the race for the leadership of the PNCR heats up ahead of the party’s December congress, current leader and former President, David Granger and current Chairman, Volda Lawrence are mum on contesting, although party insiders say neither will be contesting.
“You might very well have party groups that will nominate David Granger for party leader again. It is up to him then to either accept or decline. So that too is up in the air but I have not heard him say he would not be contesting,” Executive and current A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Chief Whip Christopher Jones told Stabroek News yesterday.
“It is highly unlikely that Mr. Granger would be contesting or you would not have had (Joseph) Harmon, who is his number one supporter publicly campaigning for that position,” another party executive told this newspaper.
As it pertains to Lawrence, prominent party member and her longtime supporter James Bond said that he understands that she would not be contesting for leadership, although if she does he would again throw his support and energies behind her cause.
It is because of his understanding that Lawrence would not be contesting that Bond has taken a stance to not publicly endorse any other candidate. “I am not going to endorse a single soul unless it is Volda Lawrence. And as far as I am aware, she is not running. She has all the qualities I am looking for in a leader. She is an example of loyal. She is as loyal as they come; loyal to me, loyal to the membership of the party, to the people…you name it, she has it. As far as I am aware, she is not running so I will not say this candidate has this or that,” he said.
The PNCR’s Nomination Day is on November 11th and neither Granger nor Lawrence has made known their intention of running.
Granger, who is on leave from the party, has been inaccessible as calls to a number he once used are no longer answered or emails replied to.
Stabroek News yesterday contacted Lawrence. She explained that she was at the time at an event for persons with and battling cancer and explained that she could not speak on the issue.
So far, former Minister of State Joseph Harmon, and executives and longstanding members, Aubrey Norton and Dr Richard Van West-Charles, have also announced their intention of vying for the post of Leader.
While Harmon last Thursday had an official campaign launch, Norton and Van West-Charles have made public their positions and are currently using social media platforms to lobby support.
The party and its leadership have faced a major backlash from supporters and the citizenry following its handling of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections and the political impasse in the aftermath.
‘Sorry’
At Harmon’s launch, he apologized to the party’s base and pledged to reunite it while seeking to ensure that it is seen as a place for all regardless of ethnicity.
“I am honoured to have been asked to step up to the plate and do what is necessary. I, Frederick Joseph Harmon, do accept that challenge of being the leader of the People’s National Congress Reform and I pledge to work with every member of our party,” he said.
He said that he is prepared to take charge of the movement for reconciliation with members who feel they were ill-treated and that their views were not respected. This, he said, is among the issues he wants to address in the party, should he be elected to the position of leader.
“We are sorry. We made a mistake and we will correct it…If we harm you, if you felt aggrieved, it may not be real but we are going to apologise and bring you back home, [it] is one of the first element of the goals I have,” Harmon said, as he underscored unity and cooperation being vital for the party’s future.
Harmon, who was instrumental in the 2020 election campaign and was one of the key figures in the former APNU+AFC government, said that he believes he possesses the necessary skill and type of leadership to move the party forward, while firmly holding on to its foundation.
During the launch, several party members appeared to give their endorsement to Harmon, including Vice Chairman Annette Ferguson, Roysdale Forde, Coretta McDonald, Ganesh Mahipaul, Dineshwar Jaipersaud, and Daniel Seeram.
While PNCR General Secretary Amna Ally was present at the launch, there was no public endorsement from her.
Forde had said that “Essential to consolidating the gains of the People’s National Congress Reform is recognising that the PNC is not a tribe. It is a political party in which all the citizens irrespective of race must know and feel that their interests are protected.”
He had also added, “We must not use statements, we must not use euphemisms, we must not use the word ‘grassroots’ to mean a return or an acknowledgement that the People’s National Congress Reform is a Black people party. It is not a Black people party. It has not, it has never been and it must never be. A leader that is tribal, a leader that is tribalist cannot advance the cause of the people that support the People’s National Congress.”
Although he did not name Aubrey Norton, Forde’s endorsement of Harmon and words to supporters triggered a response from Norton who said that Forde has not only misjudged what he stands for but has not been around the party long enough to have witnessed his struggles for the inclusivity Forde speaks of.
“I find it laughable but mischievous that Mr. Roysdale Forde insinuated that the PNCR under my leadership would turn the Party into a Black Party. If Mr. Forde was in the PNCR long enough he would have known that Mr. Winston Murray was an Indo Guyanese who Aubrey Norton supported for Leader of the PNCR. I was also his campaign manager leading Mr. Murray’s campaign to make him what would have been the first Indo Guyanese Leader of the PNCR when some Mr. Forde was speaking to were busy fighting against Murray,” Norton wrote on his Facebook Page.
“As General Secretary of the PNC in 1997, I worked with what was called then the non-traditional party support group to bring Indo Guyanese to the PNC. No spreading of misinformation can change the facts.
Again, Mr. Forde is too new to the PNCR to know that in 2006 I organized a conference in our Party at the Critchlow Labour College with the Indo Guyanese in our Party on how we could increase the Indo Guyanese base in our Party. The facts speak for themselves. PNCR members and supporters will not be misled by Mr. Forde’s misinformation,” he added.
‘Loyal’
For Lawrence’s lobbyist, Bond, his vote this year goes to a person with leadership qualities that are not questionable.
“The leader who has the ability to not only talk about uniting the party but has a plan for it. The party, whether people want to admit it or not, is in need of a process whereby we can air out differences, air out our grievances and then decide to move forward in unity. We are not just talking, uniting the party, bridging the party and all those talking points. If any of the candidates has shown they have what it takes to bridge a gap that is for the public to judge and the members of the party to judge. I am supporting a candidate who has cross cultural appeal, cross ethnic appeal, cross religious and cross socio economic appeal. Important too is cross gender appeal. They have to remember that it is not just the leader of the PNC, it is a leader who will be the future leader of APNU, a future leader of the opposition and potential future leader of Guyana. This person must be able to reach across the aisle and touch all races; civil society, touch women, touch youth, touch the business community, our elders …we need someone like that,” he stressed.
“We also need someone who has international acclaim. The world is a global village, and unless you have a leader who has international credibility, then you are just not making sense. You will not be making any sense because when they leave here, they represent not just Guyana, they represent, South America, the Caribbean …they represent this block. As I have said before, I am not trying to be controversial or dampen anybody’s dream, so I am not going to be personal or attack any one person, saying this person doesn’t have this or that,” he added.
Jones, who is leader of the party’s youth arm, has not ruled out running for the position if he feels the pool of nominees does not place youth involvement as a number one priority.
“I had really wanted to see a younger candidate contest. I would have wanted to see a younger person throw her or his hat in the race. Any young member, I would have supported. I did so when James Bond had vied for Vice Chairmanship some years ago. We would have rallied the youth movement and supported James Bond. I think there should be youth and the party’s elders provide leadership and guidance and we essentially all rally tighter. As it stands, I haven’t endorsed anyone and I am waiting to see who is on their slate, particularly young people,” he said.
“It could very well be when the nomination process starts, I can be nominated. I won’t be able to say here and now if I would accept that nomination and vie for the position so we have to await to see the pool before I make a decision on my own nomination,” he added.
For now, he will wait until nomination day to decide what his next move is.
“I have not endorsed any candidate for the leadership. I will be doing a little more watching and evaluating of the candidates and how they go about their campaigns. I will look at who is on their slate. There are certain things I look for in a leader. For example, at the last congress, I wanted to know from the candidates who are the people on their slate and I wanted to ensure I saw young people. I meant that there has to be lots and lots of young people,” he said.
Further, he added, “I wanted to hear from them their vision for the party and their vision for young people, how they plan to attract new members and those things. All of the campaigns have just started and I think within the coming weeks and so forth, we may start hearing from them on those matters that I just raised. So until I hear that, and I am convinced that this one or that one is the way to go, I may make a public endorsement. I want to stress that it is a real may.
