Last Updated on Thursday, 10 July 2014, 21:42 by GxMedia
People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member, Vanessa Kissoon and party leader, David Granger are at loggerheads over his decision to suspend her before she appears before a Disciplinary Committee to probe her alleged misconduct.
Asked why Kissoon was suspended before the alleged incident between her and PNCR General Secretary, Oscar Clarke was investigated, Granger said he acted based on available evidence. “The evidence presented did not indicate that both parties needed to be suspended in this matter. The General Secretary was behaving entirely in accordance with the constitution and in accordance with his legitimate duties,” that party’s leader told Demerara Waves Online News.
She has claimed that Clarke assaulted her on June 20, 2014 at the PNCR’s Congress Place Headquarters, Sophia when he asked her for the key to the party’s Region 10 Office. Kissoon maintains that she does not have the key to the premises.
Kissoon, in one of several correspondences between herself and the party leader that she released to the media Thursday afternoon, expressed disappointment that credible complaints to suspend her without a hearing were sufficient. “To determine the complaint made against me as credible without hearing my side shows a disregard for arrival at the truth behind the allegations made,” she said in an email to Granger dated June 28, 2014.
She claimed that Granger’s decision to suspend her violated the PNCR’s Constitiution.
The Clarke-Kissoon squabble over access to the PNCR’s office at Linden appears to spiraling more as the party heads into Congress at which former PNCR General Secretary, Aubrey Norton is expected to contest Granger for the position of leader. Norton, Kissoon, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon and several other Lindeners are in a camp that opposes Granger.
The PNCR Leader appeared to link impeded access to the Linden office and the Central Executive’s appointment of Sandra Adams as Region 10 Coordinator to a group in that region. “It is clear that there are some elements in Region 10 who oppose both counts- the right of a party to appoint a coordinator and secondly handing over the key,” he said.
Granger insisted that the General Secretary, as Chief Executive Officer of the PNCR, has a right to gain access to party property, a function he said the officer has been allegedly obstructed from performing since March, 2014 when a request for the keys was first made.
For her part, Kissoon has acknowledged that her suspension would prevent her from mobilizing for the PNCR ahead of its Congress. “Comrade Leader, you realise this action impacts me as a major mobiliser of members in Region 10. Members rely on me at this crucial juncture as the party prepares for national and regional elections or local government elections, and even for upcoming Party Congress where they will be preparing to exercise their vote for party leadership positions,” she said.
Kissoon noted that she was informed of her suspension on June 24, 2014 one day before the Central Executive met. She signaled that she was prepared for harsh punishment. “If I am to be made the sacrificial lamb to uphold the Party Constitution I am prepared to face the consequences. “
She remains a member of parliamentarian for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) of which the PNCR is the largest constituent.
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