With a clear mandate from its membership, longtime journalist Nazima Raghubir was on Sunday elected to serve a second term as President of the Guyana Press Association.
The Association’s General Members Meeting and Elections took place at the Theatre Guild.
Raghubir was able to fend off her only challenger for the position, Neil Marks, by a vote margin of 70 to 25.
Just before the elections and immediately after, Marks who previously served as GPA President raised concerns about the list of voters for the GPA Elections and the eligibility of some voters.
Even under Marks’ previous leadership, the Press Association never provided a voters list. When members gathered for their meeting, they would be informed of the eligible members who can vote.
In her address to the meeting, Raghubir spoke of some of the challenges that confronted the press association and the association’s various initiatives to get more members trained. Several training programmes were hosted over the years, covering various issues.
Moving ahead, the GPA President has noted the need for the Association to have its own secretariat and at least one permanent staff member. She also spoke about the need for the Association’s Constitution to be examined and reformed.
Rawle Toney was elected Vice President of the Association, with Ariana Gordon serving as Secretary and Svetlana Marshall elected as Treasurer. Five other committee members were elected.
The GPA Elections on Sunday, followed a failed attempt by Social Media Commentator and Contractor, Mikhail Rodrigues aka “Guyanese Critic”, to block the elections by going to the Court.
Rodrigues wanted the Court to put a hold on the elections until he was accepted as a member of the Association.
The Court dismissed his application as “wholly misconceived”.
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