THE People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) is expected to advance the issue of national unity at its 18th Biennial Congress, which gets underway today at Party headquarters, Congress Place.

That’s according to PNCR Leader and Leader of the main opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. David Granger, who told the Guyana Chronicle:
“It is a very important Congress; we feel that the enthusiasm is high. We are looking forward to advancing our thrust towards national unity and strengthening the partnership (APNU). “
He will, during the course of the weekend meeting, come up against the likes of Mr. Aubrey Norton in his bid for reelection as Party Leader.
Asked how he felt about contesting the post as leader, Granger said, “We are a democratic Party and people are free to contest. I have indicated my willingness to contest, and we are working towards that.”
Mr. Basil Williams, PNCR Member of Parliament (MP) and Shadow Minister of Legal Affairs in the APNU Shadow Cabinet was expected to come up against Region Ten Chairman, Mr. Sharma Solomon for the Chairmanship of the Party, until the latter indicated yesterday that he was no longer interested in the post.
Vice-Chairmanship of the Party will see in hot contention the likes of Norton, PNC Member of Parliament, Ms. Volda Lawrence; and PNC member Mr.. Stanley Paul, while the Treasurer’s post will be sought by PNC Member of Parliament, Mr. Ronald Bulkan and PNC member Mr. Clement Corlette.
Also, a total of 98 nominees were determined for contesting seats in the Executive Committee of the Party.

HOT-BUTTON ISSUE

One of the major hot-button issues that is expected to come up today is the matter of Party stalwart, Ms. Vanessa Kissoon, who was suspended following an alleged altercation with Party General Secretary, Mr. Oscar Clarke.
Asked if Kissoon will be allowed to attend Congress, Granger said it all depended on how the matter was settled, seeing that is now before the Party’s disciplinary committee. He however rejected the notion that the Party is sidelining young people.
“It will be folly to exclude young people, but there are other young people too. There is no intention or move to diminish the role of young people; there has always been a blend. We need people from all 10 Regions; we need a mixture of talents and skills and balance in gender. We have always sought to have a balanced membership,” he said.
There have been allegations that the electoral process set for the Congress has been subject to rigging or intentions of rigging, and that just 60 delegates would be allowed to attend from Linden, as opposed to the initial figure of 90.
This claim, made by the Region Ten PNC/R Committee, has sparked some concerns that an attempt is being made to reduce the influence of the Linden constituent representatives at the Congress.
The Congress is expected to run from today through Sunday, July 27, 2014, under the theme, ‘PNCR for National Unity, Good Governance and Development’.
More than 1,000 delegates and observers from the ten administrative regions are expected to participate in the caucus.

(By Vanessa Narine)