FORMER Region 10 Regional Chairman, Sharma Solomon; former Chairman, Basil Williams and party executive, Carl Greenidge, are among seven persons nominated to vie for the leadership of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R).

A press statement issued by the party on Wednesday, identified the trio along with Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon; former General Secretary, Aubrey Norton; Chairperson Volda Lawrence, and Dr. Richard Van-West Charles, as the nominees.

The current leader, former President, David Granger, has not been nominated for re-election or for any of the other positions.

Of the other positions that will be contested, the party has received 16 nominations for chairman, 30 nominations for the two vice-chairman (VC) positions, and 18 nominations for treasurer. Additionally, there are over 700 nominations for the 15 Central Executive Committee (CEC) member spots.

The nominations were submitted by the various party groups at last Friday’s Nomination Day.

The party groups will vote for their choices at the 22nd Biennial Congress slated for December 11. At the Congress, each party group will be given one vote per each 10 financial members in the group.

“The Congress will be for delegates only, decentralised, and hybrid. It will be conducted over one day at Party Congress Houses and approved venues in the respective regions,” the party’s statement said.

Granger is scheduled to make an address at the opening ceremony, following which there will be other Congress business including the election of party officers and members of the CEC.

With the verification of the nominations completed, the party will now write each nominee requesting that they indicate whether or not they accept their nomination.

“Failure to respond means that, should they otherwise qualify, their names would not automatically appear on the ballot for the position/s for which they were nominated,” the statement added.

Some persons have been nominated for more than one position. Of those nominated for party leader Harmon, Norton, Lawrence, Van-West Charles and Solomon have also been nominated for the position of chairman.
With the exception of Harmon, they have also been nominated for the VC position, while Lawrence has also been nominated for treasurer.

Notable among the 30 nominees for Chairman are current opposition Members of Parliament (MP) Amanza Walton Desir, Roysdale Forde, Annette Ferguson, Dawn Hastings, Shurwayne Holder, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Dawn Hastings and Chief Whip, Christopher Jones.

With the exception of Chandan-Edmond, they were all also nominated for the VC position.

Also nominated for Chairman are party executive Gary Best; former Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan; Mervyn Williams; and former minister, Simona Broomes, who, just last Friday, in a passionate social media video, decried divisions in the party and lamented the attitude of the party’s senior members while in government.

Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine, received a nod for the VC positon, as did former party leader, Robert Corbin; party member Randolph Critchlow, and MPs Viceroy Jordan, Coretta McDonald, Ronald Cox, Natasha Singh-Lewis and Ganesh Mahipaul. Also nominated for this post is attorney-at-law, Darren Wade.

Meanwhile, businessman Faaiz Mursaline, Region Four Regional Chairman, Daniel Seeram; Georgetown councillor, Ivelaw Henry, and recently reinstated party member, Vanessa Kissoon, are among those nominated for Treasurer.

Since it is common for a candidate to be nominated for and to contest in more than one position, the elections will be conducted in two stages with the result for each stage being declared before moving on to the next stage.

The first stage will see the election of the leader, chairman, two vice chairpersons and treasurer, while the second stage will involve the election of the CEC members.

The full list of nominees for the various position are as follows:
Party Leader: Basil Williams, Carl Greenidge, Richard Van-West Charles, Volda Lawrence, Aubrey Norton, Joseph Harmon and Sharma Solomon.

Chairman: Volda Lawrence, Gary Best, Shurwayne Holder, Amanza Walton-Desir, Roysdale Forde, Annette Ferguson, Aubrey Norton, Sharma Solomon, Ronald Bulkan, Christopher Jones, Richard Van-West Charles, Simona Broomes, Geeta Chandan, Dawn Hastings, Joseph Harmon, and Mervyn Williams.

Vice-Chairman: Elizabeth Niles-Williams, Volda Lawrence, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Gregory Fraser, Aubrey Norton, Darren Wade, Gary Best, Christopher Jones, Richard Van-West Charles, Vinceroy Jordan, Shurwayne Holder, Roysdale Forde, Ubraj Narine, Sharma Solomon, Robert Corbin, Simona Broomes, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Kirk Fraser, Randolph Critchlow, Amanza Walton-Desir, Corretta McDonald, Ronald Cox, Ronald Bulkan, Mervyn Williams, Ganesh Mahipaul, Bernita Primo, Samuel Sandy, and Jevaughn Stephens.

Treasurer: Ivelaw Henry, Clayton Newman, Elson Lowe, Vanessa Kissoon, Derrick Lawrence, Gary Best, Faaiz Mursaline, Ubraj Narine, Ronald Bulkan, Carol Smith-Joseph, Annette Ferguson, Amanza Walton-Desir, Roysdale Ford, Dr. Karen Cummings, Volda Lawrence, Ganesh Mahipaul, Daniel Seeram, and Deron John.