The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCC) will now be resorting to small contributions from ordinary citizens to finance the party’s activities.
Leader of the PNC, Aubrey Norton addressed supporters in Maryland, USA, over the weekend, where he spoke about sourcing financing for the party. According to him, taking donations from large businesses poses more vulnerabilities.
This means it will now be seeking financing from its support base, which includes locals and members of the diaspora.
“I am very much interested in us getting small contributions across so that we remove the vulnerability of that comes with relying on a few big business people; and then after you get power, they want to control everything,” Norton told supporters.
Reports are that the PNC’s recent Local Government Elections campaign was limited due to lack of funding. There were also indications that the PNC struggled with financing for its general council meeting.
This year, the PPP/C Government said it is committed to, and working on, campaigning financing laws for Guyana. This was one of the recommendations made by the recently concluded Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. In fact, the CoI panel pointed to the absence of the legislation applicable to campaign financing in Guyana.
“There is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding political parties and campaign financing. Political parties have historically raised funds without any limitations regarding the source or amount of donation, and with very little obligation to disclose election expenses. There is a strong need for such legislation, as there is a perception that persons and/or corporations who give large donations stand to gain political favours,” the report had detailed.
PR team
It has been three years since the APNU/AFC coalition was ousted from Government when the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) won the 2020 General Elections.
Last year, the Alliance for Change (AFC) had announced its split until the end of the year from the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). Both have been embroiled in major controversies which severely impacted their respective images.
On Local Government Election Day in June, Norton had told reporters that his party did not contest in all Local Authority Areas due to lack of funding. He said the best option was to focus on their strongholds.
“In terms of strategy, our strategy was to take our resources and focus it in the areas that we thought essentially, we had to maintain,” he had said.
Now, Norton noted that the PNC is seeking to turn around its image with a better public relations team, and bring it up to the level of the PPP. In fact, it is already in talks with one company.
“We also need assistance to get a proper PR company…We’re of the view that we need to engage a professional PR company. We will continue to do what we’re doing but we need a professional company to help us. The PPP has always had a well-oiled PR machinery,” the Opposition Leader contended.
Back in March, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo opined that their party’s direct rival, the PNC, is a “dying” organisation. He was quoted saying, “That party, that philosophy, the racism of the PNC will lead to their demise. And now, they’re rapidly dying as an organisation. And the next elections, not just in the Local Government, we will prove that definitively. The one in 2025.”
During the June elections, there were many crossovers from the PNC camp, to which Jagdeo contended that many more would do so by 2025, due to the inclusionary policy of the PPP.
“I know that a number of prominent APNU activists who have been with that party for a very long time have come and I have met with them right here at Freedom House. There are tons more people than you see who have come out openly, but others have come here. They speak of several things; that they don’t recognise the PNC any longer… With the policy of inclusion, many more will cross,” he had said.
This, he added, will prove an advantage when the country heads to the General and Regional Elections in 2025.
“That is a huge advance from in the past and would serve us well in the national elections too.”
