PNCR congress

-Van West Charles

A week after the conclusion of the PNCR’s 16th Biennial Congress, Dr Richard Van West Charles is charging that the electoral process was “fraudulent,” from membership registration to voting.

Dr Richard Van West Charles
Dr Richard Van West Charles

In a strongly-worded statement issued yesterday in response to PNCR leader Robert Corbin’s declaration that the process was transparent, Van West Charles’s campaign rejected the assertion, adding that the party has been “hijacked through an illegal process by personal agendas” once again. It said a report is being prepared for submission to the party’s secretariat and would be available to all party members.

Corbin was re-elected leader of the party for a third consecutive term last weekend, defeating his sole challenger Winston Murray, who while noting flaws in the process and irregularities in procedures, accepted the results given the wide margin of victory. Van West Charles, who bowed out of the leadership race to support Murray’s candidacy, had expressed concern that the membership register was padded.

The Congress occasioned numerous claims of disenfranchisement during and after registration for delegates, while there were also claims of multiple voting. But Corbin told Stabroek News last week that multiple voting could not have been possible, noting that delegates were allowed to make their own observations and objections every step of the way. He said too that while new procedures created bottlenecks in registration, all concerns were adequately addressed.

However, the Van West Charles campaign yesterday expressed concern about Corbin’s comments, saying that coming after the exposure of “a plethora of irregularities in the membership application, registration and voting processes,” they are seen as an attempt to taunt and gloat. “This is an exhibition of a cavalier attitude as the Party’s image is seriously damaged by the worst electoral fraud in its history,” the group said, adding that “This debacle has damaged the image of our Party. We will not stand idly by and allow our Party to degrade over time because of reckless adventurism by a few.”

The campaign noted that it had written the party on several issues, including restricted access to membership application forms, massive padding and falsification of membership, official efforts to cover up corruption in the membership process, access to the membership register, access to the list of delegates in good time and the use of acceptable photo ID’s for the voting process. However, it noted that none of the issues were addressed in a bi-partisan manner.

It also explained that at the Congress, objections were made to the distribution of wads of delegate cards to ineligible persons during the registration process. Accredit-ation officials refused to confiscate the cards, the campaign said, adding that it was aware that scores of persons from Sophia in Region No. 4 were bussed in to vote as delegates for another region.

Further, it contended that there was a breakdown of the voting process, saying that the Returning Officer lost control of the process and did not even establish the number of delegates present and entitled to vote and that there was no effort to ensure a meticulous check of delegates entering the hall. Also, it said that the roll call of delegates was so fast that it resulted in mass entrance into the hall, while the group’s accredited scrutineers were prevented from monitoring the roll call and entrance of delegates into the voting arena.

Additionally, the group said that the physical arrangements established for voting were not designed to prevent multiple voting.  “Hence, we affirm that there was massive multiple voting,” it said.

Despite several attempts, Corbin could not be reached for response yesterday. However, last week he said that if persons wanted to continue to find fault with the process, they would be doing so to satisfy their own agenda. Up to last week, Convener of the party’s Accreditation Committee Lance Carberry said he had not received any formal complaints about the process.

The Van West Charles campaign said that it is recommitting to its struggle to ensure democracy, fair play and justice in the PNCR. Further, it added that it had already commenced a process of consultations with stakeholders both locally and internationally and would also embark on public consultations on the way forward shortly.

Meanwhile, in a separate joint statement, Murray and Van West Charles expressed their appreciation for words of encouragement and quiet support “of the many Guyanese who were hopeful of change” at the recently concluded Congress. “At this time we are reflecting on the situation and we wish to indicate our commitment to keep the flame of hope alive so that change can be brought about to give Guyanese a true feeling and sense of a new beginning,” they declared, adding that at an appropriate time, a public indication will be given of future intentions.