The People's National Congress Reform is a
social-democratic and
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Guyana led by Aubrey Norton. The party currently holds 31 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly. In Guyana's ethnically divided political landscape, the PNCR is a multi-ethnic organization supported primarily by
Afro-Guyanese
Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring condition ...
people.
It is the main component of the
A Partnership for National Unity
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is a left-wing political alliance in Guyana.
History
The APNU was formed in July 2011 in order to contest the 2011 general elections,Commonwealth Secretariat (2012)l. ''Guyana National and Regional Ele ...
coalition.
History
The PNC was formed in 1957 by the faction of the
People's Progressive Party (PPP) led by
Forbes Burnham
Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Prime Minister from 1964 ...
that had lost the
general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
earlier in the year. In 1959 it absorbed the
United Democratic Party. The PNC won 11 seats in the
1961 elections, which saw the PPP win a majority. In the
1964 elections the PNC won 22 of the 53 seats and despite receiving fewer votes than the PPP, it was able to form the government in coalition with
the United Force
The United Force is a conservative and economically liberal political party in Guyana. It currently has no representation in the National Assembly and is led by Marissa Nadir.
History
Established on 5 October 1960 by Peter D'Aguiar, and was i ...
,
[ Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p 354 ] with Burnham becoming Prime Minister. During the 1960s, the PNC was allied with
Eusi Kwayana
Eusi Kwayana, formerly Sydney King (born 4 April 1925), is a Guyanese politician. A cabinet minister in the People's Progressive Party (PPP) government of 1953, he was detained by the British Army in 1954. Later he left the PPP to form ASCRIA (A ...
's Black Nationalist
African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (abbr. ASCRIA) was an Afro-Guyanese grassroots organization in Guyana, to emerge soon after the country's independence from British rule. Dedicated to the revitalization of African cul ...
(ASCRIA), until the organization broke with the PNC in 1971 on government corruption issues, and reinvented itself as a multi-ethnic pro-democracy movement to later become the
Working People's Alliance
The Working People's Alliance is a democratic socialist political party in Guyana. It was a consultative member of Socialist International until 2005.
History
The WPA was established in 1974, as an alliance of the Working People's Vanguard Par ...
.
The PNC remained in power following suspected fraudulent elections in
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
and
1980.
Desmond Hoyte
Hugh Desmond Hoyte (9 March 1929 – 22 December 2002) was a Guyanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.
Personal Life and Education
Hoyte was born on 9 March 1 ...
became PNC leader and President following Burnham's death in 1985. The party won another fraudulent election in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
,
[Nohlen, p355] but allowed free and fair elections to be held in
1992, in which they were defeated by the PPP/C. The party lost elections in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and
2001. Following Hoyte's death in 2002 he was succeeded as party leader by
Robert Corbin
Robert Herman Orlando Corbin (15 February 1948) is a Guyanese politician who was the Leader of the Opposition People's National Congress (PNC) between 2003 and 2012.
Born in Linden, Guyana, Corbin worked for the Youth Ministry of the Presby ...
. The party went on to lose the
2006 election. Prior to the
2011 election it formed the
A Partnership for National Unity
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is a left-wing political alliance in Guyana.
History
The APNU was formed in July 2011 in order to contest the 2011 general elections,Commonwealth Secretariat (2012)l. ''Guyana National and Regional Ele ...
(APNU) alliance with several smaller parties. Although the opposition APNU and
Alliance for Change (AFC) won more seats than the PPP/C, the leader of the largest party automatically became President, meaning PPP/C leader
Donald Ramotar
Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar (born 22 October 1950) is a Guyanese politician who was President of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1997 to 2013.
Political career
Ramotar jo ...
.
The APNU formed a joint list with the AFC for the
2015 elections
The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015.
Africa
* 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015
* 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015
* 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015
* 2015 Burun ...
, in which they defeated the PPP/C, winning 33 of the 65 seats. PNCR leader
David A. Granger subsequently became President.
Organisation
Arms of the party
The Guyana Youth and Student Movement is the youth arm of the party.
The National Congress of Women is the women’s arm of the party.
Biennial Congress
The Biennial Congress (BC) is the sovereign body of the party, as it has been throughout the party’s history. Congress debates reports submitted by the Central Executive Committee and resolutions on contemporary issues.
General Council
The General Council (GC) undertakes strategic oversight of the policy development between Congresses. This is chaired by the party chairman and is made up of member of the CEC, MPs, NCW, GYSM and Officers of regional party groups. The General Council meets each quarter.
Central Executive Committee
The People’s National Congress Reform’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) is the governing body of the Party. The Party Leader, Chairman, Vice Chairman and fifteen (15) members of the Executive Committee are elected at the Biennial Congress. The General Secretary is appointed by the Leader, from among the fifteen elected members. Ten members are co-opted to the Central Executive by the Leader and other elected members.
In addition each of the Party’s 10 Regions elects a representative to the Central Executive Committee, and the Chairpersons of the Youth and Women arms of their representatives are also Central Executive Committee Members.
Regional Party Organisation
Party Committees are elected annually at the following levels.
# Regional
# Sub Regional
# District
# Neighbourhood
# Group
The basic unit of the party is the group, which consists of no less than twelve (12) members. The voice of the party membership on party policies is heard through their interaction at all of these levels, through the year and also at the Annual Conferences.
New Nation
The ''New Nation'' is a weekly newspaper reflecting the views of the party, which is widely circulated locally and overseas.
Election results
References
External links
People's National Congress ReformA Partnership For National UnityLinden Forbes Sampson Burnham FoundationPNCR FacebookGuyana Youth & Student MovementApnu Guyana FacebookDavid Granger FacebookDavid A. Granger Facebook
{{Authority control
Afro-Guyanese
Socialism in Guyana
Socialist parties in South America
Political parties in Guyana
Political parties established in 1957
1957 establishments in British Guiana