Three of the four members of the PNCR accreditation committee preparing for the upcoming congress resigned on Wednesday after the central executive ruled that they could not openly campaign for contestants for the leadership of the party.
In a statement yesterday, the PNCR said that the Central Executive Committee (CEC) met on Wednesday where it deliberated on a conflict of interest that arose within the Accreditation Congress Committee.
Following the deliberation, Carol Smith-Joseph, Annette Ferguson and Ganesh Mahipaul all resigned from the Committee. This now leaves Mortimer Mingo as the only original member of that Committee.
“The CEC, while recognizing the right of Delegates to support candidates of their choice, reasoned that a conflict of interest arose where members of the Accreditation Committee, which is responsible for selecting the Delegates who would be voting for candidates, are at the same time openly campaigning for candidates of their choice,” the statement related.
The CEC thanked the trio for their service and immediately called for persons to be nominated as replacements while adding that the work of the Accreditation Committee is significantly advanced so no delays are expected as the date draws closer for the congress.
“The People’s National Congress Reform reassures its members, supporters and the nation of its commitment for a free, fair and transparent 21st Biennial Delegates Congress on the 11th December 2021,” the Party assured.
Mahipaul told Stabroek News that the decision to resign was one that is rooted in ensuring that no doubts are harboured in relation to the election of members to the CEC as well as the hotly contested leadership offices within the Party.
“I have resigned from the PNCR Congress Accreditation Committee because I campaigning openly for comrade Joseph Harmon to become the next leader of the PNCR…I believe strongly that Joseph Harmon should be leader and that I have done the noble thing, the proper thing to remove all doubts, from whoever may have doubts, to tender my resignation and to hit the campaign trail blazing,” Mahipaul related.
Efforts to reach out to Smith-Joseph and Ferguson were unsuccessful.
The party held its nomination day on November 12 ahead of its 21st Biennial Delegates Con-gress, which is scheduled for December 11.
The most hotly contested post will be for leadership of the party and there are seven nominees. Current Chairperson of the Party, Volda Lawrence, Basil Williams SC, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, Aubrey Norton, Dr Richard Van-West Charles, Carl Greenidge and Sharma Solomon are the nominees for the post of leader.
Harmon, Williams, Nor-ton and Van-West Charles have publicly accepted the nominations and are campaigning. Norton is said to be the frontrunner for the Leader’s office since he racked up the most nominations.
Speaking to the elections process, the PNCR said that it will be conducted in two stages with the results for each stage being declared before moving on to the next. Stage one would see the election of the Leader, Chairman, two Vice-Chairpersons and Treasurer while the second stage is for the election of members to the Central Executive Committee (CEC).
With the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its limitation on large gatherings, the PNCR would be hosting simultaneous elections across the country.
The Accreditation Committee is responsible for accrediting delegates to vote in the elections and according to sources within the Party, the process is far from nearing completion. While some Party members are awaiting their accreditation, others are expressing concerns over the list of delegates.
Mingo declined, when contacted, to speak on the resignations as well as preparations of the Delegates List.
During a previous interview with this newspaper, Dr Van-West Charles had expressed hope that the process would be transparent.
“The constitution of the PNCR has devised a transparent process and once everyone adheres to it there is not going to be a problem. In every election globally, in the first world and in the third world and in the developing world and the developed world, you always find one and two outliers of behaviour that runs counter to the established norms,” he said.
“Like everything else we just have to hope and ensure that the safeguards are in place. At this point, I do not see an issue. All matters are being addressed at the moment to ensure that we are in a state of readiness,” Van West-Charles had said.
Williams also expressed similar sentiments saying “the conduct of the elections for the 21st Biennial Delegates Congress could be quite taxing as it is unprecedented in the annals of our Party that is, decentralised to all other regions in the country and in the North American region my team and I, of necessity, must continue to assess that the process is transparent.”
