Harmon, others face motion for their removal as Parliamentarians

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) is expected to meet on Sunday afternoon with the main agenda item to see a final decision on which serving Member of Parliament (MP) will be recalled to allow for Party Leader Aubrey Norton to take up a seat in the National Assembly.

But ahead of that meeting, a motion has been drafted and is expected to be discussed and voted on for Joseph Harmon, who resigned last week from the position of Opposition Leader, to be recalled from the National Assembly altogether.

The motion also calls for three additional MPs to be recalled – Ganesh Mahipaul, Natasha Singh-Lewis and Nima Flue-Bess.

If the CEC votes to recall them, they will be replaced by three other members of the PNC/R to be named by the CEC.

The PNC/R will need the support of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the other members of the APNU Coalition but more importantly, former President David Granger who is still the Representative of the List and holds the final authority to effect that Parliamentary reshuffle.

Granger, who Norton replaced as leader of the PNC/R at a December 2021 Congress, recently resigned as leader of the APNU – the coalition of parities where the PNC/R holds the most power.

He did not give up the Representative of the List position and the News Room understands that although the CEC had been pressuring him to send Norton to Parliament, he has not engaged them on that front.

Party sources told the News Room Sunday that the AFC has already signalled to the PNC/R that they are willing to support its final decision as the internal politics are hammered out.

The motion, which was seen by the News Room, noted that Aubrey Norton is qualified to sit in the National Assembly as a Member of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition.

It detailed that Harmon, Mahipaul, Singh Lewis and Flue-Bess no longer enjoy the trust and confidence of the executive members, general membership and supporters of the PNC/R Region Five Mahaica/Berbice faction.

The motion urges Granger to take immediate steps for Norton to be sworn in as Member of Parliament and then elected Leader of the Opposition.

The motion was reportedly moved by Carol Nurse Carmichael as the Regional Treasurer for Region Five and seconded by Angela Mc Donald as the Chairperson for the Paradise PNC/R group.

Weeks ago, the Norton controlled CEC had decided that Norton should go to Parliament but the idea was met with resistance by Harmon and other serving MPs.

At the end of last week, there were talks of appointing an Opposition Leader from the current crop of MPs, blanking Norton in the process as the argument of urgency was made.