— Harmon and Granger excluded from Central Execuitive Committee

IT would appear as though the majority of the membership of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) is in favour of recalling some of their parliamentary representatives now that they have a new leader in party stalwart, Aubrey Norton.

Norton was quoted by Demerara Online News, on Monday, as saying that his PNC/R party comrades who would have elected him “seem to have suggested by the mandate that there is need for change at the parliamentary level”.

Norton was officially declared the new leader of the PNC/R, following the party’s 21st Biennial Congress hosted on Saturday last. When the votes were tallied, the results indicated a landslide victory for Norton who received 967 votes, while his opponents Dr. Richard Van-West Charles and Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon secured 64 and 245 votes respectively.

Norton, who joined the youth arm of the then PNC at the age of 15 in 1972, has served the PNC/R for 49 years. In that time, he has faced expulsion and years of being sidelined, largely, and in recent times, by his predecessor and former President, David Granger, who still leads the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition.

Despite his years of service to the PNC/R, Norton was overlooked not just once, but on several occasions, in recent years, for a seat in the National Assembly; first, after the General and Regional Elections in 2011, then in 2013 when Richard Allen resigned from the House, and again in 2014, when a replacement was being sought to fill the chair of the late Deborah Backer.

It should be noted that Norton is not the only PNC/R veteran who was overlooked for positions in the National Assembly. On the contrary, when the party lost the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, Granger stepped aside, allowing Harmon to be positioned as Leader of the Opposition.

Now that Norton has clearly received the majority of support from his comrades in the PNC/R, questions are being asked as to whether, as part of the parliamentary shake-up, he should also replace Harmon as Leader of the Opposition, given that the PNC/R forms the majority component of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition.

But even now that Norton is finally at the helm of the PNC/R, he does not have any legitimate say as who sits in the National Assembly or who doesn’t; he remains dependent on decisions made by Granger.

In the meantime, however, Norton has indicated to Demerara Waves that once the PNC/R’s new 15-member central committee is in place, the party will examine the possibility of having him be named a parliamentarian, which could essentially pave the way for Harmon to be booted from the seat of the Opposition Leader.

The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that, in accordance with Article 184 of Guyana’s Constitution, there are a number of ways in which a member can be removed from the National Assembly, including a no-confidence provision for removing the Leader of the Opposition.

The provision, as reported previously, reads: “Where one-third of the non-governmental members of the Assembly represent to the Speaker that the Leader of the Opposition no longer enjoys their confidence, the Speaker shall call a meeting of all the non-governmental members at which it shall be decided whether the Leader of the Opposition shall be removed from office.”

The provision continues: “The removal shall be effected by the votes of a majority of all the non-governmental members.”

This means that if there is a PNC/R parliamentary shake-up, then persons in favour of Norton’s leadership could be positioned to account for that majority, which could eventually pave the way for him to ascend to the Opposition Leader’s chair.

Asked specifically whether this is a course of action he intends to pursue, Norton responded, “As leader of the PNC, whatever functions has to be performed generally, I will perform them.”

The PNC/R parliamentarians, who have since signalled their unwavering support for Harmon, include Ganesh Mahipaul, Annette Ferguson, Roysdale Forde, Natasha Singh-Lewis and Darren Wade, among others.

Even if Norton could be successful in making his way to the National Assembly, it does not appear as though Harmon is willing to relinquish his leadership title. As a matter of fact, Harmon, during a brief radio interview, had said that even if he loses the race for leadership of the PNC/R, he cannot be removed as Leader of the Opposition.

“I am the current Leader of the Opposition in Guyana. And that there is some rumour going around that if somebody else wins, they could remove me. But I just want to make clear that the Constitution is very clear about that. That the Leader of the Opposition could only be removed at the next elections of the country…. He can’t be removed any other way,” Harmon said.

Meanwhile, both Granger and Harmon have been excluded from the PNC/R Central Executive Committee. Those elected to the committee are Gary Best, Christopher Jones, Jermaine Figuiera, Edward Collins, Dawn Hastings-Williams, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Hazel Pyle-Lewis, Kirk Fraser, Samuel Sandy, Amanza Walton-Desir, Ganesh Mahipaul, Coretta McDonald, Troy Garraway, Riaz Roopnaraine, and Annette Ferguson.