A VERY AWKWARD SITUATION FACES THE PNCR
February 21, 2012 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Source - Kaieteur News
The steady procession of leaders leaving either the executive or membership of the party proper must be of concern to the PNCR. Excusing this exodus as being reflective of the normal trend of people constantly joining and leaving the party, is disingenuous.
What we have is not just any procession of ordinary members out of the party but rather seasoned leaders and stalwarts of the executive who are taking their leave, either from the central committee or the membership proper.
The list is long and includes persons such as Jerome Khan, Faith Harding, Sherwood Lowe, James Mc Allister and Vincent Alexander.
The latter had at one stage, with the backing of a number of other central figures in the party, mounted a challenge for the leadership of the party. However, he was frustrated every step of the way and eventually when it become clear that the electoral process was not going to be satisfactory, withdrew from the race.
At the following congress of the party, it was Winston Murray’s turn to mount a challenge and there was heightened expectation that he was going to win.
He was however soundly trounced and even though there were complaints about irregularities, Murray conceded that even without those he would have lost.
But that was not the end for Murray. He subsequently received strong backing from a group within the party and was preparing to challenge to become the party’s presidential candidate. In his corner were some important persons who are now part of APNU.
Murray however fell ill and never recovered. He succumbed and the grouping of which he was a part, surprisingly put up Carl Greendige as their candidate.
Before all of this, of course, the PNCR had established a team to decide on the mechanism for choosing their presidential candidate. It came as a surprise when one of the members of that team and someone who was never part of the executive of the party, Mr. David Granger, was encouraged to stand as one of the contenders for the position of the party’s presidential candidate.
This was going to be the first time in history that the leader of the party would not lead the party into the election and there was a view therefore that Mr. Granger was a compromise candidate to avoid the controversy and possible fallout of Mr. Corbin running again as the party’s presidential candidate.
In the run-off for the presidential candidate, there was a very tight race between Mr. Granger and Mr. Greendige – far more tight than the arrangement we have now in parliament. Mr. Granger got the nod by the slimmest of margins and therefore became the anointed candidate to lead the PNCR into the elections.
There was a promise that after the elections an explanation would have been given as to why Mr. Corbin did not run as the party’s presidential candidate and why he was also not seeking a seat in the parliament. Those explanations, like the tabulations from the verification of the statements of polls, are yet to be made public.
Since then APNU, an open partnership, emerged and failed to win either a majority in the parliament or the presidency. The showing of APNU was a surprising ( some would say suspect) improvement over its 2006 results, but below that of 1992 and 1997.
APNU therefore did not do as well as some people are making them out as having done. But because of the continued strong showing of the AFC and the less than expected performance of the PPP, the combined opposition has a slender one-seat majority in the parliament.
Expectations are now high that Mr. Granger will become the next leader of the PNCR at the next congress of the party. But this is not a foregone conclusion, since there are persons who would feel that he should not head the PNCR having not served as a member of the executive of the party before.
Mr. Corbin, of course, has not stepped down as leader of the party. If he does before the next congress, it will be the Chairman of the party who will lead the PNCR until congress elects a leader. It is believed that Mr. Corbin may stay on until congress elects Mr. Granger.
But that as mentioned is not necessarily going to be a foregone conclusion. On the one hand, Mr. Granger is likely to face other challengers, and judging from the closeness of the election to choose a presidential candidate, he cannot be certain of winning.
It is therefore going to make for an interesting situation if on the one hand Mr. Granger remains as leader of the opposition while someone else, such as Mr. Greendige or Mr. Norton, comes along and is elected leader of the party.
Interesting days lie ahead for the PNCR and for their supporters. What is certain is that it is going to be very awkward for Mr. Granger to be leader of the opposition and not leader of the PNCR.
February 21, 2012 | By KNews | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Source - Kaieteur News
The steady procession of leaders leaving either the executive or membership of the party proper must be of concern to the PNCR. Excusing this exodus as being reflective of the normal trend of people constantly joining and leaving the party, is disingenuous.
What we have is not just any procession of ordinary members out of the party but rather seasoned leaders and stalwarts of the executive who are taking their leave, either from the central committee or the membership proper.
The list is long and includes persons such as Jerome Khan, Faith Harding, Sherwood Lowe, James Mc Allister and Vincent Alexander.
The latter had at one stage, with the backing of a number of other central figures in the party, mounted a challenge for the leadership of the party. However, he was frustrated every step of the way and eventually when it become clear that the electoral process was not going to be satisfactory, withdrew from the race.
At the following congress of the party, it was Winston Murray’s turn to mount a challenge and there was heightened expectation that he was going to win.
He was however soundly trounced and even though there were complaints about irregularities, Murray conceded that even without those he would have lost.
But that was not the end for Murray. He subsequently received strong backing from a group within the party and was preparing to challenge to become the party’s presidential candidate. In his corner were some important persons who are now part of APNU.
Murray however fell ill and never recovered. He succumbed and the grouping of which he was a part, surprisingly put up Carl Greendige as their candidate.
Before all of this, of course, the PNCR had established a team to decide on the mechanism for choosing their presidential candidate. It came as a surprise when one of the members of that team and someone who was never part of the executive of the party, Mr. David Granger, was encouraged to stand as one of the contenders for the position of the party’s presidential candidate.
This was going to be the first time in history that the leader of the party would not lead the party into the election and there was a view therefore that Mr. Granger was a compromise candidate to avoid the controversy and possible fallout of Mr. Corbin running again as the party’s presidential candidate.
In the run-off for the presidential candidate, there was a very tight race between Mr. Granger and Mr. Greendige – far more tight than the arrangement we have now in parliament. Mr. Granger got the nod by the slimmest of margins and therefore became the anointed candidate to lead the PNCR into the elections.
There was a promise that after the elections an explanation would have been given as to why Mr. Corbin did not run as the party’s presidential candidate and why he was also not seeking a seat in the parliament. Those explanations, like the tabulations from the verification of the statements of polls, are yet to be made public.
Since then APNU, an open partnership, emerged and failed to win either a majority in the parliament or the presidency. The showing of APNU was a surprising ( some would say suspect) improvement over its 2006 results, but below that of 1992 and 1997.
APNU therefore did not do as well as some people are making them out as having done. But because of the continued strong showing of the AFC and the less than expected performance of the PPP, the combined opposition has a slender one-seat majority in the parliament.
Expectations are now high that Mr. Granger will become the next leader of the PNCR at the next congress of the party. But this is not a foregone conclusion, since there are persons who would feel that he should not head the PNCR having not served as a member of the executive of the party before.
Mr. Corbin, of course, has not stepped down as leader of the party. If he does before the next congress, it will be the Chairman of the party who will lead the PNCR until congress elects a leader. It is believed that Mr. Corbin may stay on until congress elects Mr. Granger.
But that as mentioned is not necessarily going to be a foregone conclusion. On the one hand, Mr. Granger is likely to face other challengers, and judging from the closeness of the election to choose a presidential candidate, he cannot be certain of winning.
It is therefore going to make for an interesting situation if on the one hand Mr. Granger remains as leader of the opposition while someone else, such as Mr. Greendige or Mr. Norton, comes along and is elected leader of the party.
Interesting days lie ahead for the PNCR and for their supporters. What is certain is that it is going to be very awkward for Mr. Granger to be leader of the opposition and not leader of the PNCR.