Discussions on Monday between newly-elected PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton and Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon about who should hold the posts of Opposition Leader and Representative of the APNU+AFC List ended in stalemate and further deliberations are to be held, sources close to both sides say.
One source said that Harmon “may consider resigning in a tradeoff where Norton still would not be Opposition Leader”. It is unclear what proposals would lead to such a decision by Harmon who has up to recently held firm to the view that the PNCR membership does not control the post of Opposition Leader and that he was placed there by 2020 General Elections voters who had confidence in the APNU+AFC coalition to lead for a five-year period. The PNCR is the main component of APNU.
In that plan, according to the source, are “the machinations to frustrate and weaken Mr. Norton because there is still one more Congress before the next General Elections and if he is weakened over this two-year period” he would be vulnerable.
“They met, yes, but as you can appreciate, there would not be major decisions at a one-time meeting, given the magnitude of these issues so they have to meet possibly a few more times,” a source close to the process told Stabroek News yesterday.
“The meeting went very well…,” another source close to Harmon said.
The source said that both sides agreed to not make public any details of the talks until a mutually agreed statement was formulated.
Neither Harmon nor Norton responded to calls made by this newspaper yesterday.
Harmon’s office had issued a statement on Friday saying that the PNCR must follow due process in relation to the question of Opposition Leader. “The APNU Partnership has an established structure and if the executive of a party in the partnership has a position and they wish to express that position; they should follow the established procedure,” the statement from the Office of The Leader of the Opposition said.
“The Office of the Leader of the Opposition is a constitutional office and is consequently governed by the constitution,” it added
The Central Executive of the PNCR will be briefed on the engagement tomorrow.
They will hear, according to sources, that Harmon’s position has not changed and he did not give any commitment to resign while for his part, Norton expressed that he wanted to work with Harmon and his supporters as he feels that “all hands on deck are needed to effectively challenge the PPP/C” government.
Norton also, according to sources, explained why the party believes he should be in Parliament.
Behind the scenes, PNCR members are mulling protest action in front of the homes of both Harmon and former President David Granger, the Representative of the APNU+AFC List, if after a certain period “there is no light in sight”. For now, some said that they are constrained at the image such actions would give of an already “fractured party” and for a new leader that “many feel the public views as militant”.
“It is just utter rubbish and vile the way Joe and DAG (Granger) want to hold on for control. It makes no sense, no sense and I hope they know the public and the very constituents they say vote for them are watching. It is only because of the further damage the image of the PNC would get is keeping members from not camping outside at Pearl,” a PNCR Executive last evening said.
Granger, the former Leader of the PNCR did not contest for the post in December. Harmon did and was handily beaten by Norton.
“Joe knew he what he was heading into. He knew that if he lost this [the call to give up Opposition Leader] would come and yet he dived in and on top of that said that the two positions should be consolidated. Now that he lost it is something else? Well the PNC don’t want a man that can’t keep his word…,” another executive added.
Not clear also is how much time Harmon and Granger would be given by the PNCR to make a decision on relinquishing their respective positions of Opposition Leader and Representative of the List.
Norton has said that he will reach out to Granger for a meeting but has not said if that correspondence has been dispatched.
And as the battle for the position of Opposition Leader gathers momentum, a motion of no confidence by APNU MPs against Harmon could also be in the works to clear a pathway for Norton.
Acrimony from the increasingly bitter dispute has also now engulfed the Alliance for Change (AFC) which together with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) constitute the opposition APNU+AFC coalition in Parliament.
Norton on Saturday met with AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan who has taken a battering from his party’s executives over statements made to the press on Friday and which he said misrepresented his position. His statements on Friday appeared to support Harmon remaining in the post.
“It was an introductory meeting. We met yesterday (Saturday) because he is Leader of the PNCR and I am Leader of the AFC,” Ramjattan had confirmed when contacted by this newspaper.
Ramjattan did not go into details of the meeting but stressed that he wants it made public that he came in for a flaying from his party comrades over the statements made when all he was doing was giving a legal opinion and not the position of either himself or party.
“I am not supporting Harmon. I gave a legal opinion on what follows. A number of my party leaders contacted me and it is why I had to explain to them that it was a legal opinion,” he said.
Sources told Stabroek News that the AFC parliamentary representatives and executives were quick to chide Ramjattan over the comments on Friday, and many referenced the treatment both the party and Ramjattan faced from Harmon and Granger.
One member told this newspaper that it “seems Khemraj [‘s] memory is short…It was the very Harmon who under Granger belittled the AFC. We faced so much resistance and now Khemraj just offers a blanket statement as if he consulted with the AFC. Well, no! The AFC will be guided by its party decisions. There is democracy over here,” the executive said.
A popular AFC executive opined it might be best that the entire AFC abstain from voting should there be a motion of no confidence by opposition MPs against Harmon and “just leave the PNC to thrash it out.”
“I am not in favour, at this time of …AFC support to bring Norton to the House. Let that party (PNCR/APNU) deal with that issue. It is 22 of them and only 16 persons are needed (to pass the motion of no confidence). We should take a position of non-interference,” the AFC Executive said.
Yesterday, the executive said that discussions are intensifying on the issue and it seems clearer now that the AFC will “highly likely” abstain from voting if the decision on the post is taken to the House.
