THE 60th annual general meeting and election of officers of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), which ended in chaos on Sunday, will reconvene on May 18.

The AGM was first scheduled to be held on March 10, but was postponed because the minutes were not circulated on time for the meeting.

Persons attending Sunday’s meeting at the association’s East Avenue headquarters in Kingston, reportedly became boisterous after president Glen McFarlane left the meeting, amid charges that he had walked out.

After McFarlane’s departure Sunday Herald editor, Desmond Richards and the newspaper’s chief sub-editor Andrine Davidson were elected as interim president and secretary, respectively.

“The election of those two has no constitutional standing, it was illegal and improper. Furthermore it is not true that I walked out of the meeting. What happened is, the meeting was adjourned; I did not see the need for the hostility being generated so I left,” McFarlane told the Observer.

The confusion began when the required quorum of 25 could not be found when it was time for election of officers, as only 17 fully paid-up members were present at the roll call.

Presidential candidate Desmond Richards told the Observer that members objected to a second postponement and became boisterous. “At the roll call 17 paid-up members were present. However, there were 20 new paid-up members present who were not ratified by the committee, who we insisted should be allowed to vote, and a heated debate developed.”

McFarlane said during the debate he consulted with past presidents Desmond Allen and Donna Ortega and past secretary Ken Chaplain on the constitutionality of persons not ratified being allowed to vote, and was advised that with the absence of the documents the meeting could not be properly constituted and he adjourned the meeting for May 18 and left.

“I don’t know why they were in such a rush; If they decide to be acrimonious about it well! The association is a dynamic one, the matter can be resolved in a more harmonious manner. I had intended to suspend the Standing Orders and proceed without the documents so we could have a smooth transition. The heated debate began when we came to a constitutional obstacle we could not pass,” said McFarlane, adding that he found the behaviour of his colleagues “strange and unnecessary”.

“What happened at the meeting was a great shame on us as journalists and a great disservice to our association at a time when we are marking a significant milestone of 60 years in existence. I went to the meeting to support D K Richards election for president of the PAJ but I cannot support the disorder and chaos which reigned yesterday (Sunday),” Allen said.

He said that after the official adjournment journalists supporting Richards suggested they have a meeting to discuss the state of the association, but instead they discussed the election of an interim president and secretary. “They asked Granville Newell and myself to act as mediators between the executive and the interim president (Richards) in order to arrive at a resolution of the matter. After that, they moved a resolution to call another meeting to complete the election of officers. But what happened was a great shame,” Allen added.

Meanwhile, Chaplin, who served as secretary of the association for 8 years said it is constitutionally incorrect to have two presidents. “Officers remain in office until voted out; although the executive did not perform up to standard… they have to be removed constitutionally.”

He said the PAJ was not prepared for the meeting, pointing to the absence of a register of paid-up members, the constitution, minutes of last meeting, the secretary’s report and financial statement.

“As one who has worked to maintain its vitality I am disappointed to see the disastrous turn it has taken. The association has gone down badly,” Chaplin said.