‘Norton being undermined in PNCR by faction pushing for Hughes to be presidential candidate’ – PNCR source
A senior member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has said that efforts are underway to undermine party leader Aubrey Norton and deny him the presidential candidate position if the PNCR-led APNU and Alliance for Change (AFC) contest elections together this year.
“Several of them who opposed Norton when he ran for leadership are actively seeking to undermine him by lobbying PNC executives to support [Nigel] Hughes as the presidential candidate for the coalition,” a high-level source in the party told Guyana Daily News.
She said that some of those attempting to do so are Roysdale Forde who was defeated by Norton, and Forde’s ally, Amanza Walton-Desir.
“They never reconcile their differences and they’ve always made it clear that they don’t support Norton. So, what they are attempting now is not surprising,” the source added.
Norton has been selected as the PNCR’s presidential candidate for the 2025 elections which are expected in November. However, the APNU, of which Norton is the Chairman, is currently in talks with the AFC on the possibility of joining forces once again to contest the election.
Hughes, who is the AFC’s leader and presidential candidate said “absolutely not” when asked if Norton was identified as the presidential candidate.
The PNCR source said that they believe that if Norton does not emerge as the coalition’s presidential candidate, there may not be a place for him in the cabinet if the APNU/AFC wins the election.
“He [Norton] will likely be sidelined again like he was in 2015 if he surrenders the presidential candidacy to anyone because there is no guarantee that he will be in cabinet if the coalition wins.
The same people lobbying against him are the ones who will occupy the senior government positions if the APNU/AFC wins and they will sideline him. So he has to be smart about what he is doing,” the source added.
