The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has been absent from three consecutive meetings, forcing a “stagnated” A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to elect a new General Secretary to pave the way forward as the nation gears up for General and Regional Elections next year.
The PNCR is the largest support base party in the APNU, which coalesced with the Alliance for Change (AFC) back in 2015 to defeat the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – a party that ruled for 23 years.
The coalition was however voted out of office in 2020, after a prolonged election that began in March and concluded after five months of gruelling back-to-back litigation, street protests and rigging allegations. A bruised coalition finally acceded and gave way to the PPP/C to reclaim power. Since then, the PNCR and AFC have both elected new leaders and have gone on to chart paths that often intertwine but remain linked by a singular objective – to defeat a manifesto-fulfilling PPP/C.
More uncertain is the PNCR’s future within the APNU alliance, which consists of much smaller parties like the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP). The PNCR Leader, Aubrey Norton, has not been attending APNU meetings, forcing the rest of the group to take measures.
Guyana Standard understands that APNU met on June 6, 2024, and deliberated without Norton, who is also the Opposition Leader.
The APNU said that emails were sent to Norton on June 3 and 5, 2024, requesting a meeting, but he was a no-show.
“We were forced to make the decision that our stagnation for over two years needed to be rectified,” said the party’s new General Secretary, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, who was elected on June 6.
The decision was also taken to elect a new Chairman in the person of opposition Parliamentarian, Vincent Henry. Both posts have been elected for a period of six months or until consensus is reached on an alternative way forward.
“Since those elections, two other Executive Meetings were held of which all Executive Members were invited. However, neither Mr. Aubrey Norton, MP nor a representative of the PNCR attended any of the three executive committee meetings held on June 6th, 2024, July 15th, 2024 and July 29th, 2024,” the APNU GS said.
The GS noted that the PNCR is “an integral part of the APNU and as we continue to prepare for the 2025 elections, we hope that the PNCR would find it necessary and important to attend meetings when those meetings are called”.
