Kissoon claims Norton sexually harassed her; Norton says will not drop out of re-election race

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 June 2024, 18:57 by Writer

People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) politician, Vanessa Kissoon on Wednesday took up her party leader Aubrey Norton’s challenge to clear the air about him allegedly sexually harassing her and, despite his vehement denial, she claimed that the incident had occurred.

In response, Mr Norton told Demerara Waves Online News that Ms Kissoon’s claim that he showed her his gun and asked her for sex would not affect his decision to seek re-election at the PNCR’s Congress slated for June 28 to 30. “Absolutely not! I’m running for leader of the party,” he said.

The PNCR Leader said he would not only take legal action against party supporter, Egland Gomes, who first posted the allegation on Facebook, but also Ms Kissoon who said the incident occurred in Mr Norton’s vehicle .

She did not say when and where the alleged threat was made, but indicated that she never gave Mr Gomes permission to publish details of a conversation with him in the presence of a third party. “Since my story has gone public without me initiating it, as it was my right, I state that was wrong, regardless of motive. Being forced to deal with this publicly as a result of the actions of another hurts,” she said.

She did not immediately say whether she would now report the alleged incident to police.

Earlier Wednesday, the PNCR Leader deemed the “malicious and false” allegation part of a plot to target him because he has received the largest number of nominations for the post of party leader. ““At no stage was I ever involved in sexually harassing anybody in this country or overseas,” he said. He said that at no time did Mr Sharma Solomon ever ask him to transport Ms Kissoon to Linden and they were never in any vehicle alone heading to that southeastern town.

Mr Solomon did not immediately take calls or answer messages.