Norton should step down; PNCR needs to reorganise – former finance minister Jordan

Last Updated on Friday, 5 September 2025, 22:57 by Writer

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Aubrey Norton should not return to the National Assembly or contest for leadership at next year’s Congress but instead make way for “new talent”, former finance minister Winston Jordan said on Friday.

“My open recommendation is this: that you should step back. However, we look at it, the party was brought to its lowest ebb and you were at the helm,” he said.

While Mr Norton could remain as Representative of the List of Candidates, Mr Jordan said he should make it clear that he would not be contesting for party leadership. “You must commit not to run for leadership. Let that be early in your introspection over the next few days that you will not be running for leadership again come next year so that other talent can begin to formalise their runnings and so forth into the congress,” he said.

Mr Norton led APNU, whose parent party is the PNCR, to its worst defeat since Guyana’s return of free and fair elections in 1992, scraping a mere 77,928 votes compared to newcomer We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) with 109,066 and the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) with 242,498.

While the results of the September 1 general and regional elections are “devastating” for APNU, Mr Jordan praised Mr Norton’s “hard work” in mobilising the party such as the “signs of rebirth” that were seen at the rallies. Instead of returning to the National Assembly, he said Mr Norton should step back to the role of a party elder “without overshadowing who is the new leadership that will be emerging.”

He also hoped that the APNU’s parliamentary team would be led by Vinceroy Jordan or Nima Flue-Bess. He said six of the APNU’s 12 parliamentarians should be replaced to allow for wider participation and experience.

He also said the PNCR needed to find ways of making money rather than depending on corn house/bingos and fish fry. Mr Jordan said, among the things that that party could do is monetize the huge land space around its Congress Place party headquarters at Sophia, and establish businesses that have the potential to earn significant revenues.

“You may consider a business arm without putting the party in front. You got a lot of talented people. Form companies so that they could bid for contracts. Open businesses. Think outside the box. A big problem with us is that we do not have the economic base to support our supporters out of government so you will always have a problem holding on to these people,” he said on KAMSTV’s “Guyanese Morning Time”. He said the PNCR should use its real estate to bring in income for its benefit and that of its supporters.

Mr Jordan said after the recount of the votes in parts of Region Four and Five, “be the big man, move on, accept, move on” and begin mapping a strategy to emerge out of that “temporary setback.”

He said the PNCR-led A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (AFC) administration and the APNU in opposition had failed to devise a proper public relations (PR) strategy. “Under the coalition government, the PR was stink, under this here, the PR stink. You have to be able to reach social media. Your messaging has to be clear, precise,” he said.

Mr Jordan said he had told a number of persons that people do not read manifestos and handbills. He also said the PNCR needs to constantly engage its supporters throughout the year instead of at election time only because the incumbent has advantages such as access to the media, aircraft and money. “You are coming from behind. It’s going to be hard to convince people who are seeing all these flashy things in front of them,” he said.

Mr Jordan also proposed that party members be invited to their headquarters at Congress Place and leaders go directly to supporters in their villagers to hear directly from them where the 70-year-old PNCR went wrong.

“You don’t want any focus groups and so on. Get it raw from these people, take all the notes, put it together, distill, find out,” he said.

Calling for the PNCR to “remake its image,” he said the emphasis should be on finding ways to attract young people instead of the “aging” segment of the population that the party is currently reaching. He also credited the PNCR under Mr Norton with bringing in young people, but said that was done “very late”. “You’re on the right track,” he said. He said more Youth and Student Movements (YSM) and other youth groups should be established as part of the PNCR’s restructuring programme.

He believed that the APNU’s dismal performance at the polls reflected supporters being fed up with infighting, backbiting and outrageous demands by the PNCR and the Alliance For Change (AFC) and “they decided to put lash on both parties”. “It is clear that together we win, separately we lose,” he said. The PPPC expects to occupy at least 35 seats, APNU, 12 and 18 to WIN.

Mr Jordan also sharply criticised former APNU+Alliance For Change government minister Simona Broomes and former coalition parliamentarian Amanza Walton-Desir for splitting APNU’s votes in last Monday’s polls. Based on district declarations, Ms Walton-Desir’s Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) has won one seat from the remaining 4,226 votes, but Mr Jordan frowned on her decision to form a new political party. “This is more than just a fancy dress parade,” he said.