Nicolette out, Aubrey in

Former Education Minister Nicolette Henry has resigned as an opposition Parliamentarian to make way for the leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Aubrey Norton.

Her resignation was confirmed by party sources after the Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir announced earlier on Wednesday that she will not be participating in the ongoing budget debates.

Norton is expected to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament later this week.

He had been meeting with selected MPs since Monday to see who would resign to allow for him to be in Parliament.

“Nicolette has agreed to be the sacrificial lamb,” an Executive Member of the PNC/R told the News Room.

Once sworn in as an MP, Norton is likely to also take up the vacant post of Opposition Leader.

Just a week ago, Joseph Harmon who lost the PNC/R leadership elections to Norton last December, resigned from the post of Opposition Leader under mounting pressure.

Harmon, however, remains an MP and has refused to give up that post altogether.

Once sworn in, Norton will become leader of the PNC/R, the A Partnership for National Unity and Opposition Leader.

He will not be the Representative of the List. Former President David Granger, who Norton replaced as Leader of the PNC/R, remains leader of the list with the administrative responsibility to reshuffle MPs.

There are talks that Norton wants other serving MPs to be recalled to make way for other Executive members of the Party to go to Parliament.

Henry has been an APNU+AFC parliamentarian since 2015.