No Confidence Motion filed against PNCR Leader

Last Updated on Monday, 9 January 2023, 17:55 by Denis Chabrol

The Florida Chapter of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has filed a No Confidence Motion (NCM) in party leader Aubrey Norton for failing to deliver on his promises.

“The Party’s image has been severely tarnished and a large number of our Members, supporters and sympathizers have lost interest in this  party. The business community from whom we got significant support has been withholding that support,” the motion states.

The motion was dispatched on Sunday to the Executive of the PNCR’s North American Region and it was circulated on Monday to the PNCR’S Central Executive Committee (CEC), sources told Demerara Waves Online News.

However, one of the sources predicted that the motion is unlikely to succeed because Mr Norton enjoys majority support from among the CEC as they are from his slate of candidates.

The Florida Chapter’s motion resolves that Mr Norton must resign for failing to keep his promise to unite the party, mobilize for key political events, keep the regional structures alive and hold CEC meetings frequently.

Ahead of the motion, the PNCR Leader last week was quite guarded about whether he would again win the top party post at the next Biennial Congress scheduled for next year. He said “let’s wait and see” and stated that he has learnt in politics “not to brag too early.”

Mr Norton had been at the helm of a campaign to unseat then PNCR Leader David Granger

Since securing a landslide victory against Joseph Harmon and Dr Richard Vanwest Charles, Mr Norton has held several training sessions with youths and young adults as part of a process to draft them into membership and party mobilization. The PNCR appears to have greater media visibility, although many questions fall short of specific and detailed answers.

The motion, which was addressed to NAR Chairman Errol Lewis in Brooklyn, New York, was moved by the Chairman of the Florida Chapter John C. Yates and seconded by Lawrence London.

The Florida Chapter blamed Mr Norton for presiding over a “speedy downward spiral in Guyana’s political space”.

Though Mr Norton has publicly explained the reason for then Treasurer Faaiz Mursalene singning blank cheques and has sought to assure that all supporting documents accompany the cheques when the second signatory signs, the Florida Chapter has taken a very dim view of that situation. “The recent revelations by the Former Treasurer has been quite damaging. And whereas , a significant number of our Financial Members have now lost confidence in the Leader.

The Florida Chapter laid the blame squarely at Mr Norton’s feet for the resignations of the Treasurer and General Secretary Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

Further, that Chapter wants Mr Norton to be removed from the post of PNCR Leader to “allow for a dynamic and and inclusive leadership to stop the spiral.