People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader, Aubrey Norton is urging patience after concerns were raised in the diaspora over the pace in filling vacant seats in opposition benches in the National Assembly. Norton said these concerns were aired during his recent engagements in the United States of America where he held several meetings with Guyanese.
“As it relates to the question about Parliament in Guyana, a lot of people seemed concerned that we have not filled the seats as yet. What I did was plead with them to be patient. We will do everything to ensure that those seats are filled and that we have a full complement in parliament. I also said to them that we should not be sensational and emotional,” Norton said in a press conference yesterday.
He added, “We are going to do what is required to be done and we’ve urged patience and so, I think our people in the diaspora understand the situation and they are willing to trust our leadership and let us take all of us forward.”
The PNCR Leader is expected to shoulder the position of Opposition Leader following Joseph Harmon’s resignation of the post and his subsequent departure as a Member of Parliament.
Harmon lost the PNCR’s internal election last year to Norton.
While the new PNCR Leadership has repeatedly boasted of Harmon’s expertise, he has not been given a seat at the highest decision-making table of the party. Harmon also resigned as the General Secretary of the A Partnership for Nation Unity (APNU), one-half of the main opposition coalition of which the PNCR is a member and is the largest support-base party.
Former Education Minister and Coalition Member, Nicolette Henry has also resigned. Her resignation is effective from March 31, 2022.
Despite this concern from the diaspora, Norton reported that the support from overseas PNCR bases was “overwhelming”, as he reiterated the comment that turnout mirrored that of previous visits by PNCR Founder and former President, the late LFS Burnham.
He said that the PNCR is committed to working with people in the diaspora and has promised transparency and accountability in every collaborative endeavor.
Apart from concerns about filling vacant seats, the PNCR leader noted that the diaspora was vocal about what is happening in Guyana, “particularly as it relates to corruption and discrimination, and the attempt to dominate the entire society.”
He said that concerns were also raised by the Indo-Guyanese community, particularly Church members, regarding the issue of ethnic relations in the country.
“We had intense discussions on how do we move forward in terms of dealing with the ethnic problems in Guyana. In this regard, we would have outlined a number of things we intend to do as a political party and as a future government to ensure that we can deal with the ethnic problems in Guyana,” he said.
