PNCR Leader tight-lipped on Opposition Leader, Representative of the List issues

Last Updated on Friday, 14 January 2022, 18:09 by Writer

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton on Friday skirted questions about efforts for him to take over the post of Opposition Leader from incumbent Joseph Harmon, only saying that he did not want to prejudice “negotiations”.

Asked whether he was optimistic that the PNCR’s Central Executive Committee’s decision that he should become Opposition Leader would be realised, Mr. Norton said , “you can try as much to force an answer but the reality is negotiations, when they are occurring, should occur in a particular environment and I don’t want to spoil that environment.

The PNCR Leader said he and the Opposition Leader had “exceptionally well” talks and they agreed that it is an “internal matter” and after which the decisions would be made known at the end of the discussions. Mr. Norton expected the another round of talks with Mr. Harmon “extremely early”.

Pressed on whether he believed that there was a safe process outside of Mr. Harmon resigning from the post of Opposition Leader and he succeeding him before the next general elections, Mr. Norton again opted not to delve into details.

The PNCR Leader declined to say whether or not the fact that he is not Opposition Leader would constrain him in profiling and advancing his work. “It’s not an issue I would discuss in the public domain,” he said. He said the party’s work was ongoing at the right pace. “I don’t know what you are asking me to agree to. I think I have been elected by the People’s National Congress Reform. They’re comfortable with the work I’m doing. I would continue to do the work. I’d be guided by the party leadership as we proceed into the future,” he said.

The Opposition Leader’s Office last week stated that A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has a structure through which decisions by parties in the partnership should be discussed.

No parliamentarian could be recalled or replaced without the involvement of the Representative of the List of Candidates for APNU+AFC, David Granger. That is also a position that the PNCR wants Mr. Norton to assume, but he on Friday also declined to discuss that on the grounds that it is also an internal matter.