Norton says PNC ‘resilient’ and will join other parties for elections

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Aubrey Norton on Thursday said the party is “resilient” as it marks 70 years since its founding and would join with other parties to contest the upcoming general elections.

Norton spoke at a flag-raising event, commemorating the party’s 70th anniversary at its headquarters, Congress Place, Sophia, Georgetown. Members of the media were invited, via an advisory from the party, to cover the event. But upon arrival Thursday morning, Mr. Norton asked the News Room team to leave, stating it was a private, party event and that it was “unfortunate” that a media advisory was sent out.

When the event started sometime later, it was carried live on Facebook.

As he addressed party members and supporters, Mr. Norton spoke glowingly of the party’s formation in 1955 after its founder Forbes Burnham split from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

According to him, party members and supporters must be proud of the party’s history and proud to support an entity that has endured decades. The PNC’s time in government from 1964-1992 was marked by economic hardships and rigged elections. It lost government in 1992 to the PPP after local and international pressure for free and fair elections.

After 23 years in the opposition, the PNC joined with a group of small parties and the AFC to contest the polls and won the 2015 elections. The government collapsed after just three and a half years in government when the PPP moved a no-confidence motion in December 2018. But the APNU+AFC government defied the constitution and through a series of overtures stayed in power for 13 months, instead of the constitutional deadline of three months. When it lost the March 2, 2020 polls, it stayed in office for another 5 months as its leaders and key functionaries of the elections body tried to rig the elections.

“As a party, we have shown that we are a resilient political party,” Norton declared.

“I do believe this party in collaboration with others (is) well placed to win the next General Elections and we must all commit to working assiduously to ensure that victory.”

Mr. Norton is the current leader of the PNC and Guyana’s Opposition Leader.

THE PNCR, the broader faction in the APNU coalition, and the AFC are still deciding whether they will contest the 2025 elections.

The PNC inked a coalition pact with the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), another party that was under the APNU umbrella.