Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in conversation with Portia Simpson Miller during the People's National Party NEC meeting at the UWI yesterday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE STATE of democracy in the People's National Party (PNP) has been severely criticised by former PNP Region Three Chairman Paul Burke, who has charged that the continued flourishing of paper groups in the party is "a mockery" of the concept.
In a document entitled 'Rethinking of the Future - The Risk to our Internal Democratic Process', distributed yesterday at the PNP's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, Mr. Burke charged that the party's group structure has been consistently undermined over the past decade.
Involved in this, he said, were 'notable' Members of Parliament, constituency caretakers and divisional leaders who were intimidating officials of the PNP's secretariat who are auditing groups to determine their legitimacy.
"We like to claim that we are a genuine people's party and that it is through our group structures network that our internal democracy works," Mr. Burke stated in the document. "But do all of us really believe it, and is it really democracy or a mirage?"
And with the PNP poised to undergo a leadership change next year, the issue of group structure assumed added significance yesterday, taking up a large chunk of the NEC meeting at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies.
Party Chairman Robert Pickersgill told reporters yesterday that some leadership contenders were unhappy with the current delegates' list .
"There are some appeals that have to do with whether those delegates will remain for the upcoming conference," he stated.
CRITICISING APPOINTMENTS
Meanwhile, Mr. Burke also criticised the appointment of delegates. In some cases, he said the group chairman automatically becomes the delegate. In other cases, he said in many 'paid for' groups, the person paying the group dues, usually names the delegates, collects the delegate cards and distributes them to whomever he or she wishes.
"Some (groups) have been proper and some totally improper," said Mr. Burke. "Some persons have appointed themselves, in effect, 'delegates for life'."
Mr. Pickersgill said this was one of the concerns addressed yesterday.
Earlier, Mr. Burke criticised Maxine Henry-Wilson, the PNP's former general secretary, for "presiding over the worst of these practices" during her tenure, despite not supporting it.
Contacted yesterday, Mrs. Henry-Wilson said she was unaware of what Mr. Burke was speaking about, as he had never brought it to her attention.
