Veteran PNCR member Amna Ally resigns over ‘curse down’ at Congress Place; General Secretary Benjamin says she’ll have “zero impact”

Last Updated on Monday, 3 March 2025, 21:30 by Writer

Long-serving member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Amna Ally resigned from that political party, saying that a number women was recently verbally abused in the presence of the General Secretary, Sherwin Benjamin.

Mr Benjamin told Demerara Waves Online News that neither he nor Ms Ally was present during the reported incident which was now the subject of an internal investigation. “People may have seen me when I entered the building but I was not there when the ‘cuss down’ occurred…If I’m implicated in the letter. I was in Congress Place when persons came but I left. I don’t know. I heard of the issue and the matter is actively being investigated,” he said.

He said the resignation of Ms Ally, a former PNCR General Secretary, would not adversely affect the party.

“The resignation will have zero impact on the party. She has been absent since 2021 after the leader won the internal elections. The public has seen what she attempted to do in the run-up to the party internal elections in 2024. And now, there is a resignation which was leaked to the news before coming to the party,” he said.

Ms Ally said her resignation stemmed from a “curse out” of Ms Vanessa Kissoon, who has since resigned from the PNCR following the incident, Mayor of Linden Sharma Solomon, and prominent elder of the PNC, Ms Cheryl Sampson in the presence of General Secretary Benjamin at Congress Place and amid an organized forum of the National Congress of Women (NCW).

Ms Ally also sought to implicate PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton and his Executive for the state of the party and called on them to resign. She cited the alleged abuse of women.

“I wish to reiterate I cannot support a party which disrespect the role played by women who have always been the backbone of the PNCR, and call upon Aubrey Norton and the clique that surround him in the central executive to resign and save the party. However, since that group now operate as if they own the party founded and excellently led by Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, I have no hesitation, among deep hurt and regret, to tender my resignation and to call on all right-thinking women in the Party to stand up to this new tyrant,” said Ms Ally who was a PNCR member for more than 50 years.

PNCR Central Executive Member, Ganesh Mahipaul on Monday defended the PNCR Leader, saying that he rose to leadership in response to the widespread discontent among the party’s base and supporters who felt marginalized and unheard. “It was their collective voice that propelled him forward, rejecting the very forces that, from the outset, sought to undermine his leadership,” he said.

While he did not name Ms Ally or any of Mr Norton’s critics, Mr Mahipaul said ironically, several who now claim to be aggrieved have, for decades, inflicted harm on others within the party. He said the PNCR Leader was being badly treated by individuals who once championed loyalty and respect for party leadership but now they were engaged in “nothing short of hypocrisy”. “In some instances, their conduct mirrors the very duplicity we have long criticized in our political opponents.”