After months of delay PNCR Head Aubrey Norton is closer to entering Parliament and becoming Opposition Leader and he could be accompanied by the party’s former Chair Volda Lawrence.
This comes after signs of progress towards filling two vacant seats for APNU+AFC MPs in Parliament following the resignations of former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and Nicolette Henry.
Norton, also Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday held consultations on filling the two vacant seats on the opposition’s side of the National Assembly and agreed that Norton and Lawrence would take those two positions.
Norton and Ramjattan met after Representative of the APNU+AFC list, former President David Granger asked that they hold meaningful consultations on filling the two vacant opposition seats before he makes a decision. The two men met yesterday and discussed the issue, sources last evening confirmed.
“Meetings were held before and the AFC was briefed on what the PNC was doing. We did not need a formal request by Mr Granger to tell us what to do, but the parties yesterday held another consultation to tie up the process,” a source told the Stabroek News last evening.
The two leaders are now expected to formally reply to Granger, notifying him of the meetings and requesting that he proceed with the process to ensure the two are sworn in as MPs as per the constitution of Guyana.
A press release from Granger earlier yesterday informed of the request for consultations.
“Representative of the List for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) + Alliance For Change (AFC), Mr. David Granger, at 14:00 hours on Wednesday 30th March, 2022 received two letters from the Hon. Manzoor Nadir, MP, Speaker of the National Assembly. These letters informed him, formally, that as a result of the respective resignations of Lt. Col. (ret.) Joseph Harmon, MP, with effect from 15th March 2022 and Dr. Nicolette Henry, with effect from 31st March 2022, two vacant seats had arisen in the National Assembly,” the statement read.
“The Representative of the List has since written to Mr. Aubrey Norton, Chairman of A Partnership of National Unity and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the Alliance For Change, requesting their meaningful consultations on the nominations of candidates to fill the vacancies,” it added.
The statement pointed out that “the Representative of the List can take no further action until the APNU Chairman and AFC Leader conduct their consultations and submit their nominations. He now awaits the names of the two candidates who will fill the vacant seats before informing the Chief Elections Officer.”
According to the statement, Granger has also “informed Mr. Vishnu Persaud, Chief Election Officer of the Elections Commission, of the present development.”
Granger says that he acted in accordance with the constitution. “The Repre-sentative of the List has followed and acted in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana and the Representation of the People Act with regard to the resignation and replacement of members to the National Assembly at all material times,” the statement said.
AFC executives said that while they agreed on the meeting and discussion, they found the request “unusual” given that the party has “no vetoing power over whomever the PNCR chooses.”
Nonetheless, the executives agreed that Ramjattan would meet with Norton so as not to give Granger “any other excuses for stalling” according to one source.
“We heard that the Representative of the List wanted our Leader and the PNC to meet on who the PNC would choose. Our executives found that very unusual but we support Khemraj meeting and following through with that. We want this whole charade over with and if he wants them to consult, then they will. We are tired on this side,” an AFC executive told the Stabroek News.
Another stated, “ The AFC has no vetoing power over whomever the PNCR chooses in the same way they have none over who we choose for our nine[ parliamentary representatives] . But Mr. Granger, I guess, wants this, saying it is in keeping with the Cummingsburg Accord (which yielded the APNU and AFC coalition). So we will consult so there be not any other excuses for stalling and holding up this whole process of filling those seats.”
Over at the PNCR, one party executive explained that party veteran Lawrence was “unanimously” selected by its central committee for the wealth of both administrative and political historical knowledge she brings.
“She is needed and the party understands that. We will do what is best for the party and Guyana, unlike what some people like to think,” a source posited.
The party had since last month begun discussions to persuade Lawrence to accept its decision.
From all indications it seems that she has accepted, although efforts to contact her yesterday for confirmation proved futile, as calls to her mobile phone went unanswered.
Lawrence is the immediate past Chairman of the PNCR and served as Minister of Public Health when the APNU+AFC Coalition was in government. In a surprise move by former President Granger, Lawrence was not selected to return to the National Assembly when the coalition lost power at the March 2020 polls.
She has since departed from the uppermost positions in the PNCR but serves as the Chair of the PNCR Women’s arm and leader of its Georgetown chapter.
“I have been working for as long as I could remember and when I was Minister I never took leave, even though I was ill. So I am just taking some time for myself and my family… I don’t want to be in this race, I am tired,” Lawrence had said back in December last year, having opted not to contest for the leadership of the party.
In 2017, Lawrence was diagnosed with cancer and underwent three surgeries that year. Additionally, she underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy without taking a leave of absence. She said that the decision took a toll on her and she was taking a step back from the leadership roles as a result.
On Thursday, Ramjattan told this newspaper that Norton has been chosen to fill one of the two vacant seats on the opposition’s side of the National Assembly but the sloth of the process in them officially being sworn in was concerning and an embarrassment.
“I know that Mr. Norton has been named as one, but the other person… has to be named by the executive of the APNU. I am very very concerned because you don’t want to see your opposition without two sitting members for any lengthy period and especially without an Opposition Leader. It must come from the APNU component. It is somewhat embarrassing at this stage,” Ramjattan on Thursday told Stabroek News.
“It should be filled as quickly as possible,” he added.
On February 2, former Minister of Education, Henry, signalled her intention to resign but in later correspondence informed that it would not take effect until yesterday, March 31, 2022.
Then on the 5th of March, former Opposition Leader Harmon tendered his resignation and that took effect from March 15, 2022.
PNCR sources told this newspaper that Granger is currently in Cuba. However, no one could say if it was for medical reasons as each echoed the position that no one in the party is informed of Granger’s actions or whereabouts. Granger has been treated in Cuba for lymphoma and has travelled there occasionally for checkups.
