Four months after being elected Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the main component of APNU+AFC coalition – Aubrey Norton was yesterday elected unopposed to fill the vacancy of Leader of the Opposition and pledged to hold the PPP/C government accountable.
The election of Norton to the post was completed within fifteen minutes after the opposition MPs met in private. Leader of the LJP Lenox Shuman – a member of the opposition – had stated earlier yesterday that he would not be participating in the vote.
At the start of yesterday’s sitting, Norton along with fellow PNCR member, Volda Lawrence, were sworn in as APNU+AFC parliamentarians. They replaced former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon and Nicolette Henry who resigned earlier this year.
Saying “I feel good,” following his election to the post, Norton yesterday pledged to work in the interest of the people of Guyana and ensure that the government is held accountable for its actions.
Asked by Stabroek News if it is among his priorities to meet with President Irfaan Ali, Norton replied that he is prepared to honour all responsibilities commensurate with the office of Leader of the Opposition.
“I can’t say whether I will push for a meeting with the President. What I can say to you in keeping with the constitution is that I will honour all responsibilities of the office of Leader of the Opposition.”
He added that some of his priorities are to “ensure we hold the government accountable, to ensure we scrutinise what the government is doing, and ensure we go out into the villages and communities to understand the concerns of the people and understand them. We are elected to represent the people, [to] scrutinize the government, push for transparency, [and] to ensure accountability. We are going to do just that.”
According to Norton, he also plans to engage in discussion with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir to seek an understanding of the shortcomings of Opposition-sponsored motions not making it onto the parliamentary agenda. He also issued a warning that if the opposition did not get anywhere with its representation there could be a resort to political action and extra-parliamentary measures. He said that in a parliamentary democracy the Speaker is expected to be independent and unbiased and where that doesn’t occur other options have to be addressed.
He added that while changes loom in the functions of shadow ministers, it will be done out of necessity. He pointed out that the position of shadow Education Minister has to be filled. As such, he said there will be some changes and once finalised, they will be announced.
In his inaugural address to the National Assembly, Norton said that he was thankful to the members of the opposition for electing him unopposed. He also thanked the Speaker for convening the sitting, which paved the way for his election.
“I just pledged I will be working in keeping with the constitution of Guyana to realise what needs to be done as an Opposition Leader,” he declared.
Following his election to the post of Leader of the Party in December, the executive had declared that Norton should be given the post. At that time, former Member of Parliament and General Secretary of the APNU arm of the coalition, Harmon held the post. Harmon was shepherded into the post by Granger, who, after losing the 2020 general elections, banished a number of senior PNCR officials from the Parliamentary line-up.
“The party Central Executive has decided that the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the party should be one person and that I will meet with the Leader of the Opposition to discuss this issue shortly,” PNCR Leader Norton had said in response to a question from Stabroek News at a press conference in January.
“One of the arguments that they made is that it has been the convention in the party, and the second argument is that it provides for better coordination to control the activities of the party and for better strategizing to ensure efficacy,” he said of the justification for having one person hold all three portfolios.
Harmon’s office at the time had rejected such claims and said that the party must follow due process.
“APNU … 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 Office of the Leader of the Opposition is a constitutional office and is consequently governed by the constitution,” a statement said.
Despite that call by the PNCR arm, Norton was not able to take up the post immediately.
AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan yesterday said he welcomed the fact that the vacancy has been filled. He had previously stated that it was rather embarrassing that the vacancy was not filled with urgency.
Full team
“We can get on with the work now that we have a full team. We needed an Opposition Leader and now it is fully complemented with all members and Leader of Opposition. We can press on with our agenda and scrutinise the government,” Ramjattan yesterday told Stabroek News subsequent to the elections.
While he believes that Norton should immediately work to get acquainted with members of the opposition and their disposition on issues, he also believes that the election of Norton should resolve constitutional appointments that require the consensus of both the President and Leader of the Opposition.
“I don’t think we have to go and amend the law for those appointments. They have to know at least to cut corners and give and take… They gotta learn to hammer it out for the benefit of Guyanese,” Ramjattan posited as he made reference to the appointments in the judiciary.
Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones while noting that it is exciting that the critical vacancy has been filled, said he too shares the view that the election should pave the way for key appointments in the country.
With a Leader of the Opposition now in place, he is hopeful that President Ali will reach out for an engagement.
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 March 31, 2022.
Then on the 5th of March, former Opposition Leader Harmon tendered his resignation and that took effect from March 15, 2022.
However since the announcement of those resignations, there were lengthy delays in the naming of their replacements.
When a Member of Parliament resigns, there then exists a vacancy in the House that the party in question would have to fill. It is then the duty of the Clerk of the National Assembly to inform GECOM and the Chief Election Officer (CEO). It is on that basis the CEO would then write to the Representative of the List of that party – former President David Granger – requesting that he extract a name from the list he would have submitted before the elections. The name of that person is then extracted and the Representative of the List then writes to GECOM informing them of the proposed replacement so that a certificate of election could be issued.
The PNCR then disclosed that Granger had been written to weeks ago, informing him that current party leader, Norton, should be named as one of the replacements.
Senior members of the party also advocated for the return of Lawrence to the House citing her vast political and financial knowledge. She too was sworn in yesterday.
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Aubrey Norton (centre) accompanied by Chief Whip Christopher Jones (left) as he made his way into the National Assembly yesterday (Orlando Charles Photo)
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Several members of the PNCR who attended the sitting yesterday to observe the swearing in of Aubrey Norton and Volda Lawrence (Orlando Charles Photo)
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AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan (right) congratulates Aubrey Norton on his election to the post as Leader of the Opposition (Orlando Charles Photo)
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Aubrey Norton (left) being welcomed into the National Assembly by Speaker Manzoor Nadir after being administered his oath of office (Orlando Charles Photo)
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