Representative of the APNU+AFC List of Candidates, David Granger has written to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) advising it to extract the names of Aubrey Norton and Volda Lawrence to fill the two empty seats in the National Assembly.
This has effectively set things in motion for Norton, who is also the leader of the People’s National Congress Reform – the largest faction of the APNU – to become a Member of Parliament after which he is expected to be elected as Leader of the Opposition. There has been no Opposition Leader for some 71 days now following the January 26, 2022 resignation of Joseph Harmon from the post. The vacant position has meant that constitutionally mandated consultations between the President and Opposition Leader cannot occur.
APNU+AFC has been criticised over the delay in having Norton added to its parliamentary list and factions within the coalition have traded blame.
Harmon also resigned as an MP on March 15 while former Minister of Education Dr Nicolette Henry left the House on March 31.
The naming of Lawrence has also signalled her return to prominent public life after taking a step back last year citing personal reasons when she decided not to contest for the leadership of the PNCR.
“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.
In 2017, Lawrence was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent three surgeries that year. Addi-tionally, she underwent chemo and radiation therapy without taking a leave of absence. She had said that the decision had taken its toll on her and she was taking a step back from the leadership roles.
In an April 04, 2022 letter to Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud, Granger informed of his selection. He said that he received two letters from Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir at 2 pm on March 31 informing him of the vacant seats.
“I received a letter, signed by Aubrey C Norton, Chairman of the APNU and Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the AFC, dated 31st March 2022 at 14:00 hours on Monday 4th April 2022 informing me, as Representative of the APNU+AFC List, as follows ‘In the circumstance, the APNU has resolved, with the knowledge of its partner, the Alliance For Change, that the replacements are Mr Aubrey C Norton and Ms Volda Ann Lawrence both of whom were listed by the APNU+AFC as candidates in the 2020 submission of the joint list.
“In this regard, as required by Section 99(A) of the Representation of the People Act Cap1:03, I inform you that Mr Aubrey C Norton and Ms Volda Ann Lawrence of the APNU+FC have been extracted from the List of Candidates to fill these vacancies. I would be grateful for the necessary instruments to be issued, accordingly,” the letter stated.
The process of arriving at Granger’s letter to GECOM has been one that left observers questioning whether he should give up the post of representative of the list. Granger, after receiving the Speaker’s letters, mandated that Norton meet with Ramjattan and hold “meaningful consultations” on filling the vacant seats before he made a decision. That meeting was held on April 1.
AFC executives had 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.
At a press conference yesterday, Norton said that the decision to nominate Lawrence was taken by the full Central Executive of the PNCR. He added that he also consulted with other APNU partners.
“First of all, let me say that I have outlined the conditions that comrade Lawrence was considered under. This is an issue that was discussed at various levels of the Party. At one central executive, I think, I did point out clearly that there is a need for a finance person. Additionally, I consulted, even though it is not a prerequisite, the GAP and National Front Alliance even before that, I also engaged the AFC. So I think this is a result of a number of processes that I consider to be important in the process,” Norton explained.
He added “the information was submitted to the representative of the list under the signature of both the leader of the APNU and the leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan. Since then, the representative of the list would have written to the relevant authorities indicating that Aubrey Norton and Volda Lawrence have been extracted and to suggest to them that they move ahead with the process.”
Yesterday, Granger’s letter to GECOM attracted some controversy after it was alleged that it was a fake owing to a variance in the signature. However, that was quickly dispelled after Granger issued a statement asserting that the signature was his.
The statement said “The Representative of the List rejects as mischievous an article published by the Newsroom under the headline, `Apparent fake letter with fake Granger signature sent to GECOM.’ The letter sent to the CEO is authentic with an authentic electronic signature of the Representative of the List.
“It must be noted, that since the beginning of this process, the Representative of the List has used this signature when communicating with the Chief Elections Officer. The Representative of the List has now fulfilled his constitutional duty by submitting the names of candidates to GECOM for consideration and now waits for further instructions, if any, should be undertaken on his part.”
Repeated efforts, yesterday, by Stabroek News to contact CEO Persaud proved futile.
It remains unclear whether Persaud has since submitted the names to the National Assembly for Norton and Lawrence to be sworn in at the, yet to be decided, next sitting of the House.
Shake-ups
At his party’s weekly press conference yesterday, Norton was questioned about the decision to name Lawrence as a replacement and said that she brings the much needed financial experience that the Opposition needs.
“First of all, one has to assess the [current] team in Parliament and when one looks at the team, one felt that it’s a good team but there is a need for us to strengthen in economic and finance. [In] the public domain it is seen that our first choice would have been Carl Greenidge but he’s performing the critical role of working on the Guyana-Venezuela territorial issue and then we looked at the list [for] the next person that will bring those skills and experience [and] Volda Lawrence stands out. Therefore it was based on that the party chose Volda Lawrence as somebody with experience and competence in accounting and finance to be the person to join and complement the team,” he explained.
Stabroek News previously reported that party veteran Lawrence was “unanimously” selected by its central committee for the wealth of both administrative and political knowledge she brings.
The party had since last month begun discussions to persuade Lawrence to accept its decision and rescind her decision to step away from leadership roles.
“We need someone who knows how the PPP operates, that could preempt them, that could predict them and we don’t have currently in the House. Volda possesses that and I think for Aubrey Norton to go into into the House, his focus should be mainly on the role of the Leader of the Opposition while at the same time having a senior person from within his Party who has the knowledge of accounting and the economy, who has institutional knowledge about all of these various committees of the parliament [sitting in Parliament],” one PNCR source had related to this newspaper.
Yesterday, Norton mirrored those sentiments stating that the Opposition is in need of stronger financial capabilities. He added that based on that coupled with the fact that two persons with varying portfolios had resigned, there would be a shake-up in the responsibilities that the current core of MPs hold.
“There have to be [shake-ups] because at least two persons would have left. It seems self-evident that they will have to change,” he noted.
The current core of parliamentarians in the opposition consists of several first-timers including its shadow Finance Minister Juretha Fernandes. One source, who is also a senior member of the PNCR, said that Fernandes’ knowledge as a first-timer is limited and as such the opposition’s ability to scrutinize the trajectory of the economy and government spending is severely inhibited.
It is now expected that Lawrence would be the Opposition’s financial lead since she has the accounting background and more experience as a parliamentarian.
When asked whether those shake-ups would also involve recalling of MPs, Norton replied in the negative. He explained that there is a process that is involved in recalling of parliamentarians and he has not thought about that as yet.
“The question of recall is not something that I’ve put in my head and will determine willy-nilly in advance. Recall, as I understand it, has to be based on the party’s lack of confidence in somebody or lack of recognition that they aren’t performing. If that situation arises then as a party and as a coalition, we’ll deal with it. But I don’t want to sit down here as if I go into with a plan to recall people and that doesn’t sound to me, like the best approach to take and so I didn’t give consideration to that”, he said.
He added “I have been focusing more on what we need to do to strengthen the Parliament and what we need to do to ensure a functioning group that can hold the PPP accountable. Sometimes I think we get too obsessed with recrimination rather than the progress that should be made.”
There has been a growing call among Norton’s supporters for the recalling of some MPs and replacing them with more seasoned leaders. The current APNU parliamentarians were picked by Granger – a decision that did not sit well with the majority of the party since seniors like Greenidge, Amna Ally, Lawrence and others were not given a seat. Granger also did not return to parliament and instead christened his right-hand man Harmon to be the Opposition Leader.
At the PNCR’s congress last year Harmon was soundly defeated by Norton which was seen as a rejection of him and Granger. It was the intense pressure from the PNCR’s executive that caused him to resign as Opposition Leader and subsequently an MP to make way for Norton’s ascension to the House.
When Norton takes to the House, he is expected to be elected as Opposition Leader. When asked what his immediate priorities in that post would be, Norton said that there is a number but he wishes not to reveal them just as yet.
“I am going to meet with all members of parliament shortly and some of the ideas I have will be put, we will discuss them together and work a way forward. Mind you it is not solely the Leader of the Opposition it has to be a collective effort in which all persons will contribute.
“But I do believe that we need to make more use of the Freedom of Information Act and begin to, through the parliament, demand more information from this government. It [the government] seems to be obsessed with lack of transparency and lack of accountability and we will have to take action to ensure that they understand the need to be more transparent and accountable,” he said.
