Lone elected PNCR executive member dissociates herself from anti-Granger statement

Last Updated on Saturday, 17 July 2021, 17:53 by Denis Chabrol

A lone elected member of the Central Executive Committee of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and three regional representatives on Saturday dissociated themselves from a statement that castigated their party leader David Granger and General Secretary Amna Ally for not abiding by decisions of their decision-making body.

Those signing the first letter as “elected members” are Jennifer Ferreira-Dougal who is among the 15 who were elected at the August 2018 Congress of the PNCR.  The other three signatories are Region 10 Representative to the Central Executive Committee Jermaine Figueira, Region Three Representative Ganesh Mahipaul and Region Two Representative Sherwayne Holder.

The signatories were later changed in another version of the email to be  “Jennifer Ferreira-Dougal, Shurwayne Holder, Ganesh Mahipaul, Ernest Elliott & Annette Ferguson. This means that Mr. Figueira’s name has been dropped and replaced by Ms. Ferguson with the additional name of Mr. Elliott. Ms. Ferguson was not among the 15 elected Central Executive Committee members as she had contested for the post of Vice Chairman. Mr. Elliot is said to be an East Demerara representative.

The names of other 13 executive  members did not appear on the letter to the editor, but the three signatories, including three regional representatives called the anti-Granger/ Ally statement as one issued by a “minority”.

“We denounce, most emphatically, the personal attacks against our constitutionally-elected Party Leader, Mr. David Granger, by a minority of persons who did not have the courage to affix their names to the ‘Statement’ but who claimed, cowardly, to write on behalf of the entire CEC (Central Executive Committee),”

Two sources, who are long familiar with the PNCR’s structure, said the regional representatives are not elected members of the Central Committee. The results that had been released from the August 2018 Congress do not list Figueira, Mahipaul and Holder as elected members of the Central Executive.

Among the 13 who have not endorsed the letter issued on Saturday are the PNCR’s General Secretary as well as Christopher Jones, Aubrey Norton, Winston Felix , Richard Vanwest Charles, Mortimer Mingo, Clement Corlette, Cheryl Sampson, Gary Best, Geneveive Allen, Edward Collins, Karen Cummings and Larry London.  Thandi Mc Allister resigned recently from the party and its executive committee, and Blackman who resigned months before has been replaced by London.

“We, the elected members of the Central Executive Committee of the People’s National Congress Reform were dismayed by the publication of an anonymous, unauthorised and unsigned  ‘Statement’ titled – David Granger will not be allowed to turn the PNCR into a one man show,” they said.

The letter to the editor flayed the authors of the statement for refusing to attach their names to it. “We denounce, most emphatically, the personal attacks against our constitutionally-elected Party Leader, Mr. David Granger, by a minority of persons who did not have the courage to affix their names to the ‘Statement’ but who claimed, cowardly, to write on behalf of the entire CEC,” the statements issued by Dougall-Ferreira and others says.

Dealing with the accession of the two unknown parties- Guyana Nation Builders Movement and the Equal Rights and Justice Party- the four signatories again defended that decision by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), saying that was done by the representatives of that organisation under the Chairmanship of David Granger.  The other attendees at that meeting of APNU Executive Council, the quartet said, was attended by Mr. Vincent Henry, General Secretary of the Guyana Action Party and Mr. Keith Scott, Leader of the National Front Alliance.  “APNU executive members deliberated and collectively and unanimously approved the applications of the Equal Rights and Justice Party by its leader Mr. Jaipaul Sharma and the Guyana Nation Builders Movement by its leader, Mrs. Tabitha Sarabo-Halley,” they said.

Ferreira-Dougall, Figueira, Mahipaul and Holder stayed clear of deal with claims in the statement that the CEC had decided to put on hold the membership of the Guyana Nation Builders Movement and the Equal Rights and Justice Party but instead Mr. Granger had gone ahead and made an announcements. “PNCR disassociates itself from the ‘Statement.’ We wish to point out that the CEC did not authorize, and does not endorse the public disclosure of discussion of internal Party matters under current consideration by the Central Executive Committee,” they said.

The PNCR’s Leader and Chairman are elected separately from the 15 executive members. The Chairman chairs all Central Executive Committee meetings and in his or her absence, one of the Vice Chairmen does so.

Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon was coopted on the Central Executive.