Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Aubrey Norton has rejected contentions by Annette Ferguson that the party’s Georgetown District elections was riddled with discrepancies and warrants an investigation.
Ferguson ran for the post of Chair of the District but lost to Troy Garraway. She subsequently wrote a letter highlighting a series of discrepancies and called on the party to “rise to the occasion of practising fairness, honesty” and “being democratic when it comes to its internal business or affairs”.
Yesterday, Norton told reporters that the elections were free and fair although there was some contention when it came to the final count.
“First of all, let me say this I’m not in the habit of discussing the internal activity of the party but I want to say this to you [that] the elections that were held there were free and fair… there was some contention that when the numbers added up it [the final count] exceeded, I think by two. Now in the particular election the gap (between the contestants) was more than 75. So I don’t know that materially that could have affected the election results,” he said.
He added that the PNCR is committed to free and fair elections and has been practising that.
“The PNC is politically a political party that is democratic. The fact that we always have our district conferences and people can elect people and the world knows about it is indicative of our election…the people are elected by delegates and what I will say to you is this the people in our party decided who they wanted to elect. They elected Troy Garraway and they did not elect Annette Ferguson, Norton added.
The position of Chair of the Georgetown District was held by senior PNCR member Volda Lawrence for a number of years. Lawrence was also the Chair of the PNCR and served as a government minister when the APNU+AFC coalition was in power.
It is unclear why Lawrence did not contest the post once again but she was responsible for the hosting of the elections, according to Ferguson’s letter.
In her letter, dated October 3 and seen by this newspaper, Ferguson raised a number of issues with the conduct of the elections and said that they warrant immediate investigation. Her call comes at a time when the government has been continually accusing the PNCR-led APNU+AFC of attempting to rig the March 2020 general and regional elections.
The elections were held on Sunday October 2.
According to Ferguson’s missive to the PNCR Central Executive Committee, the day of the elections was filled with irregularities. She informed that registration went beyond the agreed time and ended around midday with no explanation for the extension. She alleged that persons who were not registered were allowed to vote as well while registered persons were barred from voting.
