– says former PNC/R member, Thandi Mc Allister
FORMER People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) executive member, Thandi Mc Allister, who recently resigned from the party she served for almost three decades, said, “I am living my truth” and “my conscience is cleared”.
In an interview with News Room on Tuesday, McAllister said she had “given up” her best years and energies and “I am quite satisfied with the work that I’ve done.”
“I did communicate to the people closest to me in terms of my party comrades and so on of my intentions, and after the submission of my resignation, I again thought it best to let them know,” she said, noting that her decision was formulated over a year ago and was only operationalised on June 15.
McAllister, an attorney-at-law and a maritime professional, said the PNC/R membership has been vocal about the concerns and direction in which the party is heading.
She sat on the Central Executive Committee of the party. She said although her family has deep roots in the party, she was not shunned but, instead, was embraced and given the necessary support and respect for her decision.
According to McAllister, no one has come forward objecting to her decision or expressed their displeasure since they all understood her decision was based on solid reasons.
“Having [been] a member of the party and serving for more than 25 years, I thought it best to give the party a fair chance to see if perhaps if I can align myself with the direction of which the party was being led, and I just couldn’t. I found that the current leadership is not best suited for the party since it does not take into consideration the best interest of its membership and support base,” the attorney explained.
She also said that the interests of youths are not given much attention and this was among the principle that informed her decision to leave the party.
In offering advice and a message to youths within the party on its current and future leadership, she said, “It is ok to chart or follow a course and path with which they feel comfortable, a path that gives them satisfaction to what they are doing, a path which they believe will lead to the type of results which they desire, a path which they will derive an opportunity in whatever they are looking for, its ok and I encourage them to follow that path and I encourage them to live their truth.”
I AM AT PEACE
Reflecting on her journey within the party, she said, “I’ve had ample time to process and deal with the emotions since it was a difficult journey, but I am at peace with that decision, I am living my truth, my conscience is cleared and I believe that for the short period I have been a political youth activist, I have given my best. I have given up my best years and energies and I am quite satisfied with the work that I’ve done”.
McAllister also said that progressive thinkers need progressive environments, and “I don’t think that the PNC/R really represent for me the type of environment I would need, and I want to take the time to focus on my career as a lawyer, as a maritime professional and to be able to not only build on what I have started professionally but also to give back to society in other ways.”
She said that for her efforts to have an impact, it does not have to be through a political institution or politics.
“I have not given any consideration to returning to political activism in the medium or short term, this is an opportunity to really establish myself as a maritime professional and that will require a lot of focus, energy and a lot of my time to set myself apart not only in Guyana, but the Caribbean and the rest of the world,” she elaborated.
Meanwhile, commenting on her former President David Granger, she said he served his time. “Perhaps, he has served well when it was most needed but he provided a catalyst for change and I earnestly believe that change in leadership should have taken place for quite a while.”
Her resignation comes at a time when there is, reportedly, a fallout in the PNC regarding the non-consultation on the acceptance of two unknown parties called the Guyana Nation Builders Movement and the Equal Rights and Justice Party into the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) by Coalition Leader, David Granger.
However, she related that this was of no consequence in her decision to leave the party.
