PNC Congress to discuss Aubrey Norton as presidential candidate for 2025 elections

The overdue People’s National Congress (PNC) congress scheduled for this weekend will, among other things, discuss the issue of incumbent party leader Aubrey Norton’s selection as Presidential candidate at next year’s polls, in addition to the hundreds of nominations for various party positions.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Sherwin Benjamin, the administrator for the PNC’s upcoming congress, gave the media updates on the activity. He said that seven persons have been nominated for leadership, 10 persons for chairmanship, 14 persons for Vice Chairmanship, six persons for treasurer and a whopping 119 persons for the Central Executive Committee.

Those nominated for leadership are Norton, parliamentarians Amanza Walton Desir, Roysdale Forde and Volda Lawrence, Guyana’s Advisor on Borders Carl Greenidge and former Minister, Simona Broomes.
Those vying for a spot on the party’s executive committee include former PNC Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon, who recently made damning allegations of sexual harassment threats against Norton himself.
This publication has been informed that a motion on the selection of incumbent party leader Aubrey Norton, to be the Presidential candidate at the next elections, will be put to the floor.
While Benjamin shied away from confirming that this motion would be voted on, he did relate that 2000 delegates would be attending the congress. The final list of delegates, according to Benjamin, should be with returning officer, Vincent Alexander, by Thursday.

“In respect of a report from the General Secretary, I think the secretariat will have to provide a report on Saturday. Who does that, it’s beyond me to say, but somebody from the secretariat will provide a report on what transpired from the period December 2021, to current,” Benjamin said.
In addition to Kissoon’s allegations, the preparations for congress had also been marred by the resignation of PNC General Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams, who had alleged, among other things, poor planning for the congress and lack of transparency.
She had also expressed concerns that as general secretary, she was not being integrally involved in the preparations. Additionally, Hastings-Williams had highlighted that she has received complaints from several groups and party members some in writing, that the records of the secretariat do not correspond with their previous submissions and that their membership register does not reflect their true membership.
The General Secretary had further revealed that many members also claim that they have been unable or will be unable to meet the short deadlines set for the submission of the delegates and other information because of the short notice period for Congress. However, Benjamin was adamant that the concerns raised by Hastings-Williams regarding membership complaints have been addressed.
Additionally, he noted that the list is up to date and was not impacted by the removal of the external drive. According to Benjamin, they are just doing the customary checks to ensure that clerical errors, for instance in the spelling of names, are corrected.

“To the best of my knowledge, persons would have written to the General Secretary and the General Secretary raised those issues at the last Central Executive Committee meeting. In the main, those issues ought to be discussed or addressed at the group level, district and regional level. The General Secretary and some of the candidates were present,” Benjamin said.
“In respect of the CPU being removed from the original place, I don’t see that as being removed from congress place. It remained in the hallowed walls of congress place. The general secretary in her report indicated that the CPU moved from a office to a next office. The person who moved the CPU was not at work. The item was restored. The integrity of the information remained.”
PNC’s biennial congress is set for this weekend, commencing Friday, June 28. Norton, whose leadership style has been criticised and questioned by many party members including stalwart Amna Ally, is being challenged for the position of PNC leader.
There have been a number of controversies leading up to the PNC Congress, with the most egregious being allegations of sexual assault against Norton by Kissoon. Kissoon, who is currently a councillor on the Linden Town Council, claimed that Norton had threatened to rape her at gun point.
The PNC’s elders have since launched an investigation but indicated that the process could not have been completed before the congress. Moreover, Norton has not opted to step down from the leadership race during this period. (G9)