-registration woes, lengthy voting process among concerns
-party moves motion that provides for leader to be its automatic choice for presidential candidate

AS expected, the voting process at the People’s National Congress Reform’s (PNCR) 22nd Biennial Delegates Congress was nothing close to smooth. Countless supporters left Congress Place visibly exhausted and complaining bitterly about the difficulties encountered with registration and the long-winded voting process.

Voting got underway around 10:00hrs on Sunday and ended around 20:30hrs, more than four hours after the scheduled close of poll. Tallying of the votes started shortly after; up to press time, no preliminary results were available.

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the party’s Sophia headquarters, some members were heard complaining about the lengthy registration process as well as the confusion to ensure that delegates received their necessary badges and identification.

As the day progressed and the voting proceeded, some members were heard complaining about the lengthy lines and the scorching atmosphere in which they had to cast their ballots.

Commenting on this, the returning officer Mr Vincent Alexander said : “The process was relatively slow and that had to do with the voters themselves, particularly voters from the central executive. They had to pick 15 from 60, that took time and that was the main thing that slowed the process.”

According to Ganesh Mahipaul, an executive member of the party, key officials of the party were on site as the tallying process began.

Mahipaul in an invited comment, acknowledged that the process was indeed slow. However, he expressed belief that party members displayed “full comradery [sic].”

“The process was a bit slow because there was only one voting station, meaning there was only one specific area where delegates could have gone to vote …but there were about five or six voting places which is when you collect the ballet paper, when you already present your ID [Identification card] and you already present your delegate badge …so we had anything about five to six persons voting at once,” Mahipaul explained.

“It was very clear, very transparent, very accountable, very democratic, smooth flow. Comrades showed their resilient[sic], they showed their patience and they withstood the heart [sic], they withstood the temperature, they withstood everything and it was full comradery [sic] in display,” he told this publication.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
It was later disclosed that the party had moved a motion to allow whomever emerges as the party’s leader to be the presidential candidate for the upcoming Regional and General Elections.

This Mahipaul said is not an isolated decision.

“The motion said whomever is elected leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, that person is given the mandate from congress to be the presidential candidate …there was a further be-it-resolved clause that said that …in that person’s mandate [if] there is need for negotiation, compromise, consensus, whatever else, the mandate is given to that person who is elected leader to make the best of choice.[s]”

ELECTORAL CONCERNS

Prior to the party’s election, its leader Aubrey Norton had found himself battling a mountain of allegations regarding numerous infractions.

Just mere days before the opening of the congress last Friday, General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams tendered her resignation from her post, while both of Norton’s competitors, Amanza Walton-Desir and Roysdale Forde flagged several concerns which ultimately led them to withdraw from the race for the party’s leadership.

Both Walton-Desir and Forde “suspended” their campaigns on Thursday due to what they claimed were alleged irregularities and lack of transparency surrounding the congress.

In a letter, Forde said that despite several written communications addressed to the Central Executive Committee and the General Secretary regarding concerns about the integrity of the electoral processes for the party’s elections, he did not receive any response.

He went on to say: “There have been noticeable irregularities concerning the list of delegates, which raise serious concerns about the transparency of the election process.

“Unreasonable timelines have been imposed to meet certain requirements for holding the congress, which have placed undue pressure and constraints on the democratic process,” he added.

Walton- Desir in her statement said: “As of the morning of June 27, 2024, one day before the commencement of our congress, a preliminary list of delegates has not been made available to me as a candidate to allow for claims or objections and further, there is a lack of agreement among all candidates contesting on the procedures for conducting the elections.”

Earlier in the day, the Guyana Chronicle approached Norton who had exited the party’s headquarters to greet bystanders.

He was quizzed on the ongoing electoral process and the concerns raised by his colleagues. However, he declined to respond and maintained that an official statement will be published after the party’s congress had concluded. Nothing had been issued up to press time.

Mahipaul subsequently responded to the concerns raised by his comrades.

According to him, his colleagues fail to communicate through the proper channels. Despite this, their concerns were addressed and rectified, he said

“The concerns that they raised were concerns that had to do with addressing it at the group. They did not provide information at the group level but we at central dispatched their concerns ….and it was rectified,” Mahipaul said.