-unhappy with congress preparations
PNCR General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams yesterday resigned with immediate effect over arrangements for the party’s congress this weekend but its leader Aubrey Norton last night said that arrangements will continue as planned.
“Yes, she has resigned, but it will not hamper the plans for Congress. It will continue as planned”, Norton told Stabroek News last night.
Hastings’ shock resignation, the second by a general secretary under Norton, threatens further disarray for the party which was already reeling from sexual harassment allegations made against the leader by longstanding member Vanessa Kissoon.
In her resignation letter seen by Stabroek News, Hastings-Williams recounted a plethora of problems to Norton.
She said she disagreed that the congress could be called with just one month for planning. Other members of the PNCR have also complained about this.
“With all the administrative task that has to be undertaken by the secretariat, I believe that the one-month period for preparation for such a congress can lead to confusion rather than having a fair and transparent process and outcome. I am quite sure that you and the members of the CEC (Central Executive Committee) will agree with me that when the Congress is over it must conclude in a positive light”, Hastings-Williams said.
She also addressed shenanigans over membership of the party and humiliations she had suffered.
“…ever since my assumption of Office as the General Secretary, I have been attempting to correct this (membership) situation after I was informed that the external drive with all the information on the General membership was removed and perhaps destroyed and that the software on the computer (had) crashed. I can confirm the computer was eventually fixed sometime in late April or early May. And then you had the incident where the CPU (Central Processing Unit) was removed from the department without the General Secretary’s permission. This occurrence caused a delay for almost two weeks. Consequently, I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy of the records in this section. Additionally, I have received complaints from several groups and party members some in writing, that the records of the secretariat do not correspond with their previous submissions and that their membership register does not reflect their true membership”, Hastings-Williams, an APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, said.
She added: “Many members also claim that they have been unable or will be unable to meet the short deadlines set for the submission of the delegates and other information because of the short notice period for Congress. Consequently, I cannot substantiate or dismiss the accuracy of these claims especially when it was only Friday 21st June, the updated but not quite completed General Membership Register was handed over to the Administrator. Hence the need for corrections and changes will have to be done between the current time and the date of the Congress”, she stated.
She also adverted to an incident in which a member from a US group was deeply embarrassed.
“I must mention an instance where a comrade from one of the groups in the USA came to my office to enquire about the reason why membership cards were not being printed and we both entered the Membership Department to examine the computer and the other equipment so as to determine what was the pending issue and to see whether he can assist in any way to get the membership matter addressed. Not even five minutes past when the Leader (Norton) called him to ask why was he questioning a junior staff about membership. The expression on the Comrade’s face and the tone of his voice told me that something was not right. I never felt so humiliated after that incident. I felt as if I was being watched and monitored. In fact, this was actually the second time I felt humiliated after being locked out at the gate where canters and cars were used to block my vehicle from entering to pick me up to take me home from work”, Hastings-Williams related.
She also addressed exemption of observers.
… Rule15(3) which addresses Observers at Congress, she said, permits her as the General Secretary to accredit persons to attend as Observers whether they are members or not. Hence, she said, it begs the question, “why are we abandoning the privilege party members look forward to?
She said she thought it was her duty as the General Secretary to be integrally involved in every aspect of the preparation for the Congress.
“However, that has not been happening in many instances. For example, invitations were sent out to persons without my knowledge and I don’t know under whose authorized signature other than the General Secretary of the Party. I found out when I began to send out a few written invitations and only to be told that they are already in receipt of an invitation. This, I see as a gross disrespect to my office. I am in no way against being assisted in the preparation of the invitation or any other document but at least be given the courtesy of examining the draft and the final product. In this case, I have requested for the total number of invitees so as to inform the security personnel for safety and order”, she said.
Hastings-Williams also voiced concerns about the state of financial matters.
“If you can recall Cde. Leader, at our very first meeting, I told you that I will accept the appointment under the condition that you allow me and gave me the scope to function as the General Secretary of the party without being micromanaged”, she said.
She said that members of the CEC would have noticed that within the period of one year-plus as the General Secretary she has been unable to present any financial statement to the Central Executive Committee.
“Reason simply being that I have no access to the weekly or monthly income and expenditure statement. I had requested of the accountant last December to prepare and produce a financial statement for the year 2023 so as to present it to the CEC. When I called for the statement to be handed in to me the accountant said that she had completed the statement as was instructed by me but was told not to hand it over to me but to put in on hold”, Hastings-Williams said.
She said that Congress Place at present is not conducive to working especially when “you have someone shouting and threatening staff that they will be sent home”.
In light of all the reasons stated above she said that she had decided to tender her resignation “because I would not like to be a part of any unreasonable practice hence it becomes precedence for next time. I love my party and I will not continue to sit as a rubber stamp in the Office of the General Secretary”.
She thanked Norton for the opportunity to serve.
Former General Secretary Geeta Chandan-Edmond resigned effective December 14, 2022.
The PNCR Congress will be held from Friday, 28th June to Sunday, 30th June 2024.
