Leader of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNC/R) David Granger today expressed that he is not in denial that there might be opposition towards him, but he claimed that he is unaware of any no-confidence motions (NCMs) brought against him.
During a PNC-organised interview called “The Public Interest”, the former President expressed “right now, I don’t discount the fact that there might be some opposition to me.”
However, he said contrary to media reports, he is unaware that several groups from within the party have brought NCMs against him.
“The motions are difficult to define because, as far as I’m concerned as party leader and as far as the Central Executive Committee is concerned, we’ve never seen the texts of the motions, we’ve never heard of any official meeting of any part of the party…,” he explained.
“These are phantom motions. No texts, no votes, no notice, no defence…it’s difficult to understand who’s behind these press releases,” the PNC Leader added.
Media reports indicate that the members of the PNC Central Executive Committee yesterday met and deliberated on two NCMs against Granger.
But Granger is insisting that this is not true.
“These…meetings which seemed to have been held certainly were not sanction by the Central Executive Committee of the party. We don’t know who was in invited, we don’t know what the motions were, who moved and seconded the motion, how many votes were taken…how many votes were against,” Granger insisted.
He noted too that “even in common law, if an accusation is made about some misconduct, at least the person is told what the accusation is about, but I’m not aware there is any wrongdoing and I have never seen any motion.”
“Certainly. if directed against me, at least I’m entitled to know what misconduct I’m being accused of,” the PNC Leader posited.
“I can’t figure out what the game is … and people need to suppress this type of activity that is taking place. I don’t know if anyone would claim responsibility for convening these so-called meetings and bringing these motions but as I said, it was never been brought to the attention of the Central Executive Committee.”
Moreover, Granger pointed out that the party leader is elected by Congress and not the Central Executive Committee and therefore, he urged persons to wait until Congress is held to select the new leadership of the PNC.
Noting that he is yet to decide on whether he will run again, Granger said “other persons have announced their intention to run, we’re a democratic party and if they feel they can run, let them run.”
He noted too that “there is a legal framework, congress will be held and persons who are interested in competing for the leadership of the party are free to compete…”
“So let us keep it clean, let us keep it constitutional,” Granger affirmed.
The PNC’s last biennial congress was in 2018, where Granger was returned unopposed as leader of the party. Congress was due in 2020 but Granger continues to cite the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for the delay in holding Congress.
Granger, who left office in August 2020, after a five-month battle in Guyana for democracy to prevail, has been facing pressure from within the party and has suffered a sharp drop in popularity, over the loss of the 2020 General and Regional Elections after just one term in office.
These divisions were exacerbated by the list of parliamentarians he picked to send to the 12th Parliament, after party stalwarts like Chairperson Volda Lawrence were excluded and the WPA was not consulted to name their candidate. WPA subsequently withdrew from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, on the heels of the Justice For All Party (JFAP).
Granger has also been denounced by individual members of the party, like one-time PNC parliamentarian James Bond. Bond has, in fact, labelled Granger’s leadership as “ineffective” and “mediocre”.
Granger has also been criticised by the PNCR diaspora group, who added their voices to calls for the former President to step down from leading the party. In a letter signed by Connie McGuire, Michael Bramford, George E, Lewis and the PNCR New York Diaspora group, they appealed to all PNC Executives, members and supporters to demand the resignations of Granger and other party leaders.
Unlike in 2018 when he was returned as leader uncontested, Granger now faces at least two challengers for the post of leader. CEC member Richard Van West-Charles recently threw his hat in the ring, joining party stalwart Aubrey Norton as two executive members of the party who have indicated their interest in the top job.
