A week after People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) leader Aubrey Norton made it known that his party believes he should be the Leader of the Opposition, he on Friday skirted questions on the ongoing discussions with the current office holder, Joseph Harmon.
At his weekly press conference on Friday, Norton said that while the talks are going “very well” both Harmon and he have taken a position not to reveal the details until they have concluded the discussions. The initial discussion took place on Monday and it is unclear as to when the next meeting would occur but according to Norton that would be “extremely early.”
Both Harmon and Norton recently contested for the leadership of the PNCR and the latter won by a landslide victory. Harmon consistently claimed during his campaign that the Leader of the Opposition should be the leader of the PNCR in an effort to get the party’s message across.
The PNCR is the largest party in the APNU+AFC coalition. Former President David Granger, who is also the immediate past leader of the PNCR, is the Representative of the List for the coalition and the person who helped pave the way for Harmon to assume the post of Opposition Leader after their defeat at the 2020 polls.
Granger did not contest the PNCR leadership and is currently not involved in the affairs of the party but is still the leader of the APNU and Harmon is the General Secretary.
When questioned on Friday about the process being employed to make him Leader of the Opposition, Norton said “one does not discuss the internal issues that would prejudice the discussions and like I said to you we will discuss all the issues in detail and at the right time we would inform the media of the outcome.”
It is important to note that though he was on the coalition’s list of candidates for the 2020 elections, Norton is not a Member of Parliament and him becoming an MP solely depends on Granger’s approval. It is unclear how the PNCR is treating this since Norton was tightlipped about whether they have met with Granger to discuss the possible selection of a new Representative of the List.
“The party has taken a position that these issues would be discussed internally and once we deal with those issues we would get to say what the situation is. It is not in the best interest of a political party for the details of such issues to be in the public domain before we thoroughly discuss and agree,” Norton said when asked about meeting with Granger.
He further stated that the PNCR would continue to discuss and further its position relating to him becoming Opposition Leader but continued being tightlipped as to the approach to achieving that.
“You can try as much to force the answer but the reality of it is negotiations when they are occurring should occur in a particular environment and I don’t want to spoil that environment…I understand what you are getting to but like I said we are going to continue our discussions and we are not going to get involved in public pronouncements that will affect the discussions. The party has set out its positions, we are guided, we will act in consonance and at the right time the press will know,” he added when asked about whether his party remains optimistic that he would be appointed as an MP and subsequently Opposition Leader before the next general election in 2025.
Stabroek News reported last Tuesday that discussions between Harmon and Norton ended in stalemate and further deliberations are to be held. One source said that Harmon “may consider resigning in a tradeoff where Norton still would not be Opposition Leader”. 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.
