Incumbent PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton yesterday clinched the vast majority of nominations for the leadership post at the June 28-30 Biennial Delegates Conference and he was followed by Roysdale Forde SC and Amanza Walton-Desir.
According to Congress Place, a total of 218 groups participated in the nominations, representing all 10 Administrative Regions alongside significant bodies such as the National Congress of Women and the North American Overseas Group.
Leadership aspirations saw a diverse array of contenders, with 7 individuals nominated by various groups:
Aubrey Norton emerged as the frontrunner with backing from 177 groups,
Roysdale Forde with 20 groups
Amanza Walton-Desir with 9 groups,
Carl Greenidge with 4 groups, and
Simona Broomes with 2 groups
Volda Lawrence with 1 group,
Gary Best with 2 groups,
Similarly, the Chairmanship contest showcased 7 candidates.
Shurwayne Holder, the incumbent, secured 173 nominations, leading the pack, trailed by
Volda Lawrence with 20 nominations,
Roysdale Forde with 9 nominations,
Amanza Walton-Desir with 7 nominations,
Christopher Jones with 3 nominations,
Sharma Solomon with 2 nominations,
Simona Broomes with 1 nomination.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of Nomination Day, Randolph Critchlow, a supporter of MP Amanza Walton-Desir, shared his enthusiasm with Stabroek News. He described the day as “exciting,” recounting the journey from Red shop to Congress Place to submit their list. Critchlow expressed satisfaction at Walton-Desir’s nomination, highlighting the broad support she garnered nationwide. Looking ahead, he noted the official start of the campaign and the impending climax on the 28th, 29th, and 30th when delegates will convene to cast their votes, underscoring the intricate selection process based on party group representation.
In reflecting on the day’s events, Norton expressed confidence in his party’s trajectory under his leadership. “I think it went good,” he remarked. “ We did our political work, that is being in contact with our members, they are aware that we have improved the party considerably under my leadership and I have no doubt that I will get getting more than 80% of the leadership votes and that’s a conservative estimation. You can see from the supporters who came out coming from the various regions to support me as leader of the party so we anticipate that we will out-nominate the others.”
Elson Lowe, nominated for Treasurer of the Party, underscored the democratic essence of their party amidst the fervor of Nomination Day. “We would like to emphasize that we are very proud of the fact that our party is a democratic party.,” he affirmed. “We have seen various groups making their nominations today and a lot of enthusiasm which to me means that we’re looking forward to a Congress that will fill the party with a lot of energy as we look towards the elections. So, I’m glad we had a large turnout and a large amount of interest as we look forward. What you are seeing here at Nomination Day is just the prelude to a much larger engagement that we will have at Congress and there we will discuss some of the critical issues that we have going forward as a party so that we can move with a unified front and second of all to give Guyanese people the information they need to make the right decisions when the elections come.”
The Accreditation Committee will reach out to all nominees to ascertain their intent to either accept or decline the nomination. Those who remain in contention will proceed to the Congress. The subsequent phase, slated to be the largest Congress yet, commences on June 28th to 30th at Congress Place.
