AUBREY Norton has returned as Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and, as his new term begins, he will have to face the unaddressed internal struggles that are continuing to cause a rift within the party.

The decision of his opponents, Amanza Walton-Desir and Roysdale Forde to suspend their campaigns, cleared the way for Norton’s easy victory.

In a statement issued on Monday, the party said that its three-day 22nd biennial delegates congress which ended on Sunday, was attended by approximately 1,300 delegates. However, the party had previously said that some 2,000 delegates were expected to be in attendance.

According to the party, Norton was returned unopposed as Party Leader; Shurwayne Holder was re-elected as Chairman; Vinceroy Jordan and Elizabeth Williams-Niles were re-elected as Vice Chairpersons, and Elson Low was elected Treasurer of the party.

Returning Officer, Vincent Alexander, had declared that Norton received 1,040 of the 1,066 total votes cast.

Additionally, it has been 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.

Ganesh Mahipaul, an executive member of the party, had told this publication on Sunday that this 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].”

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, Walton-Desir and 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.”