Aubrey Norton hints at leaving PNCR

Last Updated on Sunday, 27 July 2014, 20:33 by GxMedia

Disaffected People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member, Aubrey Norton on Sunday hinted that he could soon be cutting ties with that party, moments after he bowed out of the leadership race due to a flawed system.

“I have always been PNC but for the first time I have to sit down and think through where I go. I can promise everyone that I have no interest in the PPP (ruling People’s Progressive Party). I was never PPP, I will never be PPP,” he said.

Quizzed on whether he would consider joining the Alliance For Change (AFC), he said he had to discuss his next move with his family and weigh it with the demands of being in the hierarchy of the Critchlow Labour College (CLC). “I  have to get time and then when I sit down I will sit down and discuss it and decide what I think is in best interest of Guyana and my own family etc,” he said.

Norton is considered a key mobilizer and campaigner in his hometown of Linden, resulting in A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) of which the PNCR is the key player winning an outright majority in Region 10.

Fellow PNCR stalwart, Carl Greenidge said the unsatisfactory manner in which the party has been organizing its internal elections could well result in its members and supporters seeking political alternatives.

“Given what is going on at the national level, people need to find a party that will look after their interest,” he said, adding that people do return to their party during elections. “But it’s not going to be as vibrant as it should be,” he said.

Asked if he would consider moving on to another political party, Greenidge said “no” but ruled out participating in the PNCR’s leadership unless the current crop leaves office and an acceptable delegates’ list is put in place.

He added that the party has arrived at a very sad moment where a crooked election has been held although the party hierarchy had been formally told as far back as 2012 about a number of problems including the last-minute addition of new names to the delegates’ list.

Repeated grave concerns and allegations about that party rigging general elections for several years until 1985 continue to  haunt that party. The PNC lost power for the first time in 28 years at the 1992 general election that was internationally certified as free and fair.