-No decision yet on run for leadership

PNCR executive Dr Aubrey Armstrong has not closed the door on his candidacy for the leadership of the party, which he said has to be restructured as it prepares to lead the country towards a shared vision.

Dr Aubrey Armstrong

“No, I’m not ruling it out, but I haven’t made any decision as yet,” he said in an interview on Friday, explaining that he is open to contesting for any number of offices, including that of either chairman or leader of the party. Armstrong, a management consultant who has worked in several Caribbean territories and further afield, said he is prepared to play any role in the best interest of the country. “I feel one good role I can play is as a catalyst, constantly pushing for change,” he declared.

Although he has lived overseas for many years, he is confident that the party membership – which ultimately has to make the decision about his candidacy – would recognize that he has always remained involved. He did, however, point out that he is the first Guyanese who has lived abroad for such a long period and has been voted on to the PNCR Central Executive, in contrast to other overseas-based executives who have been co-opted. He emphasised that he was born in Guyana, while pointing out that no one raised similar questions about Janet Jagan, who he said was accepted by everyone. “I was born here… I didn’t come out of nowhere, I grew up in the trade union movement, so I paid my dues,” he said.

However, if he does decide to contest for the PNCR leadership, Armstrong’s long residency overseas is likely to be a hurdle for him since he would not be able to meet the qualifications for election as President. Article 90 (1) (b) of the Constitution stipulates that a person must have been continuously residing in Guyana for a period of seven years immediately before the nomination date for the election, in order to qualify as a presidential candidate. “I am not going to get in to that now,” Armstrong said, when asked about the implication of the rule in the event that he is elected the party’s leader, “I will deal with those matters when they happen.”

The other expected candidate for the party leadership, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, is likely to face similar concerns about his candidacy.

At the national level, Armstrong warned that the country is fast approaching a failed state, pointing to a “perfect storm” that has arisen as a result of a combination of international and local factors. Pointing out that “half the nation going one side and the other half going the other way,” he said without stability, there are no rules, which hinders investment.

He pointed to the general lack of confidence in the legal system, the perception of institutional and official corruption and the link between money laundering and legitimate businesses as being among the problems that have contributed to the situation. He added that the CLICO (Guyana) meltdown has been a psychological blow to the country, as a result of the uncertainty by policy holders and depositors over their pensions and investments. He called it only the tip of the iceberg, while expressing concern about movement of money from CLICO (Guyana), the New Building Society and the National Insurance Scheme.

Armstrong indicated that the PNCR would be restructuring with the ultimate aim of bringing about political stability in the country. He said the party would be proposing a programme to this end and would be looking for partnerships to work on it over the next year. He cited the model of the US Republican Party, which continued to work towards implementing a Reaganist programme since the 1980s. Armstrong said people like him would be tasked with ensuring that there is a programme for a vision shared by a wide cross-section of the society.

He admitted that the PNCR has “problems,” and said it is clear that it would have to be restructured. “It will mean that some people will not be pleased because we cannot go on doing the same old things,” he said, [but] it calls for a restructuring of the party; a rethinking of the way we do business.”

He explained that coming out of the PNCR’s strategic leadership retreat held earlier in the year, several areas have been identified for retooling of the party. Among them are the way it is financed, its use of technology, its outreach to its membership as well as its outreach to youth and to non-traditional supporters, particularly in the Indo-Guyanese and Amerindian communities. On the latter point, Armstrong said the PNCR has to rethink how it reaches across ethnic barriers. “We have to look at leadership at all levels,” he said, “and develop ways of ensuring that the leadership is able to reach out beyond the party – in other words a big tent – to talk to other political formations, to talk to the unions and so on, to bring about some kind of political stability in the country.”

Addressing the question of the specific qualities the party leader would need, he said they would be identified in the programme. However, he said “maturity” is clearly among them, as the leader would be required to step beyond personal concerns and differences with others and to be able to bring people under a big tent. “So, the people who will be hitting me directly, 1 will have to smile, shake hands with, give a hug, that is important,” he said.

He sourced current questions about whether party has been providing effective leadership to it being in opposition where it lacks the largesse of the state. He said it would be called upon to be more creative to attract support. He also identified indiscipline as a problem, saying that while there would be differences of opinion, there should be attempts to resolve them rather than put them out into the public. “I believe that a period of indiscipline took over where problems were not being put on the table,” he explained. “…We are going to have to accommodate major differences, people who disagree with us, people who may not like us…you don’t have to love me, 1 don’t have to love you, but we need to agree on a programme that we feel is for the next generation.” He added that there is also a need for leaders to move away from “hubris,” and, in particular, from the situation where any one individual believes he or she is the answer in pushing things forward.

According to Armstrong, different people would play different roles in pursuit of the common vision. In this regard, he said he believed he could be “a catalyst pushing constantly for change” while offering the assurance that he would not close the door on engagement with anyone from a different group or party. “I feel that’s a start, where you reach across the boundaries and open dialogue,” he said, adding that it is clear that the party needs to move away from traditional divisions that have weakened it and try to bring people in on board a programme with a shared vision.

Armstrong added that a future programme would seek to embrace former stalwarts who have left the party for various reasons. Indeed, the PNCR has seen the migration of a number of high profile members and supporters in the last decade, including almost all of the founders of its Reform component. More recently, last year former party vice-chairman Vincent Alexander and supporters of his campaign for leadership withdrew their membership, citing several concerns, including the recall of MP James McAllister. Alexander and his supporters, who said they had been persecuted after the aborted leadership challenge, called for tackling fundamental problems that they said prevented the party from re-energising and rebuilding. Alexander said core issues that formed his platform- the need for a new polity in the party and the country-had been completely ignored. Additionally, Winston Murray gave up the post of Chairman on a matter of principle though he has remained a Member of Parliament and the party’s shadow finance minister.

Following its retreat, the PNCR has agreed to host a series of town meetings, Armstrong said, where it would seek the input of, among others, “persons who are not even in the party” as well as “some who don’t particularly like the party.” He said he was comfortable with such an approach and would seek to include groups, including Team Alexander, who would be canvassed for their views on the proposed programme and whether they could see playing a part in it.

Armstrong was asked how his association with the Compass-a pressure group that was among the resistance to the Forbes Burnham PNC administration-would be viewed. “What it will say is Armstrong thinks independently and will put on the table what he has to. Not everybody is going to like that, in and out of the party,” he said, having already noted that it was well known that he left the country because the then Prime Minister gave him an instruction that he thought was wrong.