While some stakeholders in the political arena viewed Jermaine Figueira’s exit from the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) as the loss of a political heavyweight, Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton begs to differ.
At a press conference today, Norton said Figueira, like those who jumped ship before him, are anything but political heavyweights.
As it concerns Figueira, Norton essentially said there was no loss to the party; the Lindener was only taking up space, proved to be incompetent and failed to represent his hometown.
The PNCR leader said, “I invite you to go through the performance of Figueira and see what in it suggests to you that he was a heavyweight performing incredibly for the APNU.” Norton argued that the work of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport only received the attention it needed, after Figuiera was replaced by his colleague Nima Flue-Bess to shadow that portfolio.
Norton noted that several issues plaguing the ministry went unchecked by Figuiera, which ultimately led to his removal from that position. The party leader said Flue-Bess is deserving of being crowned a political heavyweight given her contributions to the party.
He said, “Figuiera was only the occupier of a seat, not a heavy weight. A heavy weight gets into the community, relates to people, do what has to be done…so far, none of the persons who would have departed can carry with them the support from the APNU.”
The PNCR leader also stressed that Figuiera dropped the ball on providing representation for Linden, a crucial stronghold for the party. Norton said he had to visit Linden at least five times to ensure work was done. He event shared that Figueira failed to attend Central Executive Meetings to partake in decision making.
Overall, Norton said that Figueira proved to be incompetent on all fronts. His departure was therefore a win for the party in Norton’s eyes.
