Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton today offered no guarantees that the Party’s Biennial Delegates Congress will be held in December of this year. Instead, he hinted that it will possibly be delayed by several months.
Confronted on the issue during a press conference today, Mr. Norton said while the Party’s Constitution, mandates that the Biennial Delegates Congress be held biennially to facilitate the election of new leadership, it does not dictate that the Congress be held exactly two years from the date of the last Congress.
Norton said traditionally, the Delegates Congress is held in August, however, the 2021 Congress was only held in December due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
While assuring that Congress will be held, Norton offered no clear indication when.
“Generally, our party Congress is held in August and our Central Executive, when it will meet, and there will be a timetable for Congress and there will be a Congress. What I can’t guarantee you is that it will be in December because there is also the view that we should return Congress to its statutory August, so going forward, it is back to its normal place,” he told reporters.
Mr. Norton’s comments come just days after the PNCR General Secretary, Dawn Hastings-Williams told News Source that plans will begin soon for Congress to be held.
Hastings-Williams also provided no date, but Norton said it is more convenient to hold Congress when school is out, to allow for full participation by those who would be required to travel to the city to attend the forum.
“If you are talking December, you are either talking school period or Christmas period, and you are talking now, not of a virtual Congress but of us, going back to our traditional Congress and therefore it should be held at the time when it is best and conducive to holding such a Congress,” he said.
The last Congress was a hybrid one, with persons attending both in person and virtually.
The General Secretary said that before holding Congress, PNCR will first hold its long-over General Council Meeting. That meeting is due once every quarter, but the Council has not met since August 2022.
Norton assures that there has been no breach of the Constitution.
“The Party’s Constitution provides for General Council, but in that Constitution, it also says in cases where the General Council is not convened the party’s Central Executive shall perform its function. So, when it says violation of the Constitution, I don’t know that there is violation of the Constitution,” the Party Leader said.
Norton was among members of the Party, who had pressed for the last Congress to be held on time.
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