Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Dr Faith Harding revealed that she has resigned from the central executive of the party as she promises to breathe a new wave of dynamism and change in the local landscape.
Dr Harding said her decision to resign came late last year after she came to the realisation that the party was no longer a place for passionate membership. She said the PNCR did not involve people in serious activities and it seemed the leadership did not care to change its image with the membership as well as with its supporters.
“When I was campaigning early last year and the year before in 2010, I felt that people were feeling very abandoned by the party and so my message was about change, it was about shaking up the party and shaking up the government of Guyana. I wanted people to feel good about their country. I wanted them to feel good about our party. I wanted people to feel that the government was using the resources of this nation for them,” Dr Harding related.
When the central executive did not seem to be taking such a direction, Dr Harding said she decided to make the change, a decision which came on the heels of the executive abandoning her, after the primary elections.
“I felt that they had sidelined me as one journalist puts it. Yes, I felt sidelined. I felt that whenever I wrote to the party’s leadership, I got no response. It was as though I wasn’t being acknowledged and hence I felt I’ve got a lot to do in this country. I’ve got a lot to offer to the nation. I am a woman that does not sit down. I’ve always been that way,” Dr Harding emphasised.
She disclosed that the party has always recognised her as an influential person, and even former presidents, Linden Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte were always excited about the skills which she shared with the party’s membership. After over 30 years on the central executive of the PNCR, Dr Harding said she did not need to be on the central executive to fulfill her mandate and reach out to the masses.
Dr Harding dispelled allegations that she was bitter after failing to win the support of the party’s congress during the process to select a leader. She was of the view that she was not treated fairly based on issues and the skills which she brought to the table.
“With this new energy, that is, in Guyana for change, I thought that I could move out and move away and do some things that I enjoyed doing most which is meeting with the communities,” Dr Harding revealed.
She said that persons who supported her during the campaign kept nudging her to return.
“I have groups supporting me in Albion, in Port Mourant, in Corriverton on the Corentyne. I have groups supporting me in Georgetown, in Sophia, in Long Creek on the highway that are formed groups; very strong. I have a group in Akawini on the West Bank of Demerara that I’m doing projects with.”
Dr Harding, who has two masters of arts degrees and a doctorate in education, said she intends to channel her creative energies into such programmes. She is currently working with a group to produce loads of sorrel to meet a demand on the Chinese market.
“You know how good sorrel is and we do not know enough about it around here, but it’s a fantastic product so that’s where I’m putting my energies. Some of these people are supporters of the PNCR and some are not, but they are interested in what I have to share with them,” she said.
Although she remains in the membership of the PNCR, Dr Harding said she is keeping her options opened and has not yet decided what political direction her life would take.
“I have a lot of people from the different parties talking to me and looking at my credentials which they have admired over the years and I’m also considering that as yet. I want dynamism action. I want people being served in this nation and for Guyana to grow and develop,” Dr Harding pointed out.
She has since been invited to form a women’s party and admits that this is a proposition which can present thrilling prospects on her agenda. Dr Harding said she has an interest in women being involved in agriculture, and those participating in mineral extracting roles in Guyana’s interior region. She is considering a proposition from the recently established Women Miners Association to take them on board.
Her husband, Patrick Harding was recently elected president of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).
Dr Harding said in a few days, she is expected to assume a leadership role for the Women’s Industrial Enterprise, which will serve as an umbrella organisation for all of the other women’s groups she has established.
She applauded a lobbying move by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in India for a Medical Tourism Hospital to be built in Guyana. Dr Harding pointed out that a tourism hospital is something she has always been excited about to improve skills, the economy and the neighbourhood that would be graced with a tourist facility. “I was excited about that and about a massive railroad system in our country which is pushing me to meet with the new president so I can discuss with him some of the ideas I have in great detail which I see are on his agenda as well and really to take women on board.”
The General Council of PNCR will be meeting on March 3 and 4 this year to discuss several issues.
