With just under two weeks to go before the People’s National Congress Reform’s 21st Biennial Delegates’ Congress, former Party Chairman Basil Williams on Saturday announced that he had accepted a nomination to contest for the office of Leader.
Williams, a former party Chairman, has joined what appeared to be a three-man race between fellow nominees Aubrey Norton, Joseph Harmon, and Dr Richard Van West-Charles, who have launched campaigns in their bid to replace former President David Granger.
Sources have told this newspaper that Norton, who received the most nominations, appears to be the frontrunner for the post. Current Chairperson of the party Volda Lawrence as well as Carl Greenidge, and Sharma Solomon also picked up nominations.
Williams, in a statement on Saturday, expressed his gratitude for the nomination and admitted that the time is ripe for him to throw his hat in the race. He touted himself as the party’s “servant/leader” for two decades, while adding that he went where others refused to go. Seemingly campaigning for votes, through his statement, the former Attorney General said that he was “upfront and centre” in the fight against the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the subsequent victory of the APNU+AFC coalition at the 2015 polls.
He did not mention his role in the 2020 general elections, which saw the coalition, of which the PNCR is the largest fraction, suffering a defeat.
“I note the impact COVID-19 is having on our members and supporters and indeed the people of Guyana. In March 2020, during the height of the last General and Regional Elections (GRE), I was inspired to create the legal framework to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to save lives. It is the first of its kind in Guyana,” Williams boasted while expressing sadness at the loss of several of their comrades.
He said that the PNCR must adapt to the changes that the pandemic has brought, while adding that it “can’t be business as usual.”
“The PNCR must also adapt lest we ‘kill off’ our treasured members. Virtual meetings and other forms have taken over to avoid wherever possible face-to-face meetings in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and more deaths therefrom. I do not propose to provide the occasion for our people to contract the virus by having them assembled to listen to me campaign for the post of leader. I will adopt the relevant means of messaging as attend the pandemic,” Williams said, indirectly taking a jab at the campaign gatherings being held by the other contestants across the country.
He stated that he is capable of getting his messages to party members without gatherings after having served for 20 years on the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).
“During that time I spent seventeen (17) years in Parliament, practised as a lawyer at all material times, and served as Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General the last five (5) years for the APNU+AFC government. I have been travelling incessantly the length and breadth of our country and the diaspora to visit with our membership and indeed wider communities. I can appropriately say ‘if you don’t know me by now you will never, never know me,” Williams added.
Laying down his journey through the PNCR, the Senior Counsel said that he made his way up the CEC ladder from an ordinary member in 2001, then served as Vice Chairman for eight years and Chair-man for six years. He made sure to reinforce that it was under his watch that the party was elected to government after 23 years of sitting in the opposition benches.
“The only office I never served in is that of Leader. I believe that having been nurtured by our Founder Leader Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and inherited by subsequent leaders after his death and having performed with excellence, the ordinary member, armed with facts and knowledge of my works would agree that Basil Williams SC is a sound choice for Leader of this great party of ours,” he declared.
The PNCR has said that the Congress will be for delegates only, decentralised, and hybrid due to COVID-19. It will be conducted over one day at Party Congress Houses and approved venues in the respective regions. The Congress will open on December 11 with an address by Granger.
Williams said that with the elections moving from a central location, they must now be vigilant to ensure that the process is transparent.
“If the leader is to be the Presidential Candidate then this brings into focus other considerations such as whether the leader can win a General and Regional Elections (GRE), whether he or she is a dual citizen and is otherwise qualified under the rules of the PNCR and the Constitution of Guyana. It would be my distinct pleasure to serve as your Leader and therefore come the day of elections, I unequivocally ask for your vote,” Williams said.
In relation to its elections, the Party said that it is common for a candidate to be nominated for and actually contest for more than one position. It related that the elections will be conducted in two stages with the result for each stage being declared before the next stage.
Stage one would encompass the election of Leader, Chairman, two Vice-Chairpersons and Treasurer while stage two would see the election of the members to the CEC.
Additionally, for the post of Party Chairman Lawrence was nominated along with Norton, Solomon, Van-West Charles, Harmon, Gary Best, Shurwayne Holder, Amanza Walton-Desir, Roysdale Forde, Annette Ferguson, Ronald Bulkan, Christopher Jones, Simona Broomes, Geeta Chandan, Dawn Hastings and Mervyn Williams.
The party received 30 group nominations for the Vice-Chairmanship and 18 for treasurer and was supposed to write to nominees asking them to accept or decline the nominations. However, up until Thursday, that was not done.
Sources told Stabroek News yesterday that some nominees have received letters while others have not. Efforts to confirm this with the party’s leadership proved to be unsuccessful as the party has remained tightlipped on the internal arrangements for the Congress.
