The main opposition PNCR yesterday delayed the adoption of procedures to identify its presidential candidate, opting to undergo a week-long consultation process with party members before making a final decision.
The decision was made at the party’s General Council meeting after recommendations based on the work of a selection committee mandated to draft the criteria, system and procedures for the process were presented by the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) to the general membership.
Stabroek News understands that a number of suggestions came from the floor and this influenced the decision to conduct the week-long consultation process.
This process will allow members of the party to discuss their views with the party’s CEC. The meeting was conducted in a cordial manner despite some disagreements, a participant explained. The member suggested that there appeared to be an understanding that the future of the party was at stake.
The three members who have publicly declared interest in being the presidential candidate, former party Chairman Winston Murray, current Vice-Chairman Basil Williams as well as former Brigadier David Granger, were allowed to address the audience at the meeting.
The selection committee comprised four members of the CEC, Oscar Clarke, Dr George Norton, Amna Ally and Lurlene Nestor; representatives from the party’s youth arm, the Guyana Youth and Students Movement; its women’s arm, the National Congress of Women; the North American and UK chapters; and the general membership.
Stabroek News understands that the proposed procedure to identify the candidate would include the convening of a special congress, where an election would be held, after a list of recommended candidates, in order of priority, is submitted to the CEC. However, there is resistance to the consultation process outlined in the proposal, which some party groups contend does not involve the widest participation by the membership.
The proposal presented to yesterday’s meeting envisages that each party group would submit a list of nominees in order of priority to a regional committee. Upon receipt of the lists, the committee would then schedule a special meeting, which would be attended by a representative from each of the groups. At the meeting, the lists would be examined and eventually inform a national list, which would rank candidates in order of priority.
Additionally, the process would see requests to the nominees for resumes and the committee would also be empowered to request interviews of all the shortlisted nominees if it is deemed necessary.
Afterward, the committee would be responsible for compiling its recommended lists of candidates to the CEC, prior to the holding of the special congress.
However, there has been representation for the selection process to adopt a “bottom-up” approach, ensuring that every bona fide party member is involved in the consultation process, once it has been properly outlined and scheduled.
Such a process would involve interactions between prospective candidates and party members and supporters and the general public within a specific timetable for completion.
In keeping with the motion passed in July, the candidate is supposed to be of sound and unquestionable integrity, commanding the full confidence of the members of the party and the Guyanese people.
The General Council is the highest forum after the party’s Biennial Congress.
The party’s move to select a candidate was triggered by the announcement by Corbin in March that he was not interested in being the presidential candidate again. Corbin had also said that “a major challenge” for the party was to find “a consensus presidential candidate who could win the confidence of the majority of Guyanese” at the polls.
However, he has emphasised that he would not be stepping down from the post of party leader, after there was speculation that he was prepared to do so.
Some critics have said his decision to remain as leader would undermine whoever is selected as the party’s candidate.
In addition to a candidate, the party has also been exploring electoral alliances with other opposition forces, including the WPA, GAP and NFA as well as civil society groups. The party has said it is committed to develop, “without precondition” a working understanding with any individual or entity, even from within the PPP, willing to negotiate in good faith on a platform to transform the country.
