Volda Lawrence, Carl Greenidge among 7 nominees for PNCR Leader

…candidates to be given deadline to accept nominations

The contenders for the leadership of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) have now expanded to seven, with Carl Greenidge, Volda Lawrence and Basil Williams being nominated for the leadership race.
On Wednesday, the PNC/R announced that a total of seven persons have been nominated for Party Leader. Besides incumbent Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, Aubrey Norton and Dr Richard Van West-Charles, former Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge has been nominated.
Additionally, the party announced that former Attorney General Basil Williams, incumbent PNC/R Chair Volda Lawrence and former Region 10 Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon have also been nominated.
There were 16 group nominations for Party Chairman and 30 group nominations for Party Vice Chairman. In addition, 18 persons have been nominated for the post of Party Treasurer in the PNC/R.

Party Chair
For the position of Party Chairman, the nominations are Lawrence, Harmon, Solomon, Gary Best, Shurwayne Holder, Amanza Walton-Desir, Roysdale Ford, Annette Ferguson; Aubrey Norton, Ronald Bulkan, Christopher Jones, Richard Van West-Charles, Simona Broomes, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Dawn Hastings-Williams and Mervyn Williams.

Vice Chair
For the position of Party Vice-Chairman, Solomon, Walton-Desir, 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 Ford, Ubraj Narine, Robert Corbin, Simona Broomes, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Kirk Fraser, Randolph Critchlow, Corretta McDonald, Ronald Cox, Ronald Bulkan, Mervyn Williams, Ganesh Mahipaul, Bernita Primo, Samuel Sandy, and Jevaughn Stephens have been nominated.

Treasurer
Meanwhile, the nominations for Party Treasurer include 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.
“All nominees will be written to and requested to indicate by (date) their acceptance of the nominations. 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 PNC/R said in its statement.
The party’s 21st Biennial Delegates Congress is scheduled for December 11, 2021, over the course of one day. The congress will be limited to delegates, and will be a mixture of physical and virtual attendance.
In Stage 1 of the congress, elections will be held for the Leader, Chairman, Vice Chairpersons and Treasurer. In the second stage, there will be an election for the members of the Central Executive Committee.
The PNCR – the leading party in the A Partnership for National Unity faction of the APNU/AFC coalition Opposition – has been embroiled in an internal divisive power struggle since the party’s loss at the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Hence, there was mounting pressure for congress to be held to elect new leadership.
Harmon’s candidacy is supported by several Members of Parliament and party members, who attended his campaign launch that was streamed live on the PNCR Facebook page. These include: Coretta McDonald, Roysdale Forde, Ganesh Mahipaul and Annette Ferguson – all Parliamentarians.
Meanwhile, Dr Van West-Charles has been endorsed by several PNCR members, including prominent leaders in Linden, including Solomon and former PNC Parliamentarian Vanessa Kissoon.
Greenidge, a longstanding member of the PNC/R, who once served as Finance Minister under former President Forbes Burnham, served from 2015 to 2019 as Foreign Affairs Minister in the Government of David Granger- whom he previously challenged for the leadership of the party. He is currently employed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an advisor on borders. (G3)