IN an article captioned ‘No common view on who should lead the PNCR in the June 3, 2012 edition of the Stabroek News the author quoted Brigadier Granger as saying that he will be contesting for the leadership of the People’s National Congress Reform at its 17th Biannual Congress schedule for July 27 – 28. While I respect the goodly gentleman’s ambition to vie for the PNCR top post, I will urge him to rethink his candidature and, at the same time, beseech the delegates to this congress not to make Brigadier Granger the next leader of the party.
I have nothing against Granger since I view him as an honourable man but to me he has several fundamental shortcomings that make him ineligible to be the next leader of the PNCR in this new dispensation.
At this junction of its history, the People’s National Congress Reform needs a leader who can first reunite the party, then mobilise the resources – human and financial – to re-engineer the party from the bottom up. Unfortunately Brigadier Granger squandered an excellent opportunity to demonstrate this virtue when he was elected the presidential candidate for the PNCR and subsequently APNU.

He failed to martial the other presidential candidates – a task he committed after his election, and other key individuals who were disenchanted with Mr. Corbin’s leadership to form a united front for the November 2011 elections.
At the regional and general elections, the party and by extension the APNU, ran one of the most poorly organised and under-financed elections campaign in its  55-year history.

More recently with the open dissention in views Granger adopted an acrimonious posture, calling people names and using condescending terms in reference to party members.
I have no doubt in my mind that if Granger had the capacity to unite the party and mobilise the financial and human resources during his eight-month tenure as the presidential candidate, APNU would have defeated the PPP/C at those elections.
The PNCR need a decisive but flexible leader who will demonstrate resoluteness on the basis of principles and not political convenience.

The PNCR needs a leader who can motivate and inspire a wide range of people to volunteer their services to restore the brilliance of the party. Not a central command structure that will effectively convert the party into a military-style regiment. Here again Granger’s leadership was found to be lacking during the last election since a lot of people with much needed talent become disillusioned with the militarisation of the campaign structure leaving no room for expert opinion.

With all of these shortcomings, his own utterances of separation of office, during the campaign for the presidential candidate and the impending national political challenge, it is my fervent view that Granger should concentrate on his role as Opposition Leader and Chairman of the APNU and allow someone who is more politically endowed to take the mantle of leadership of our great party.