OPPOSITION Leader, Aubrey Norton, has once again ‘ran way’ from the issue of whether or not the party is going to participate in the imminent Local Government Elections (LGEs).
In light of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) having written to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall advising of a time period within which LGEs could be held, Norton was once again approached about his party’s position on its participation in those elections.

However, all Norton would say is that: “We will continue to do our political work and at the right time we will say what we will do.”
The PNC/R is the largest component of the A Partnership for National Unity coalition, for which Norton is also the Chairman. Together, the APNU+ Alliance For Change (AFC) Coalition forms the main opposition.
Norton, who is also the Leader of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), when pressed about the reason for his party’s secrecy, described the posture as a strategic move.

“The questions of elections have to do with strategy and tactic, we think strategically we don’t need to say it at this time. We will decide at the right time what we will say in terms of participation and non-participation,” Norton maintained.

Norton was also questioned on whether the APNU and AFC would be looking to contest the LGEs as one unit or go in separately, as was the case in the 2018 LGEs, which yielded dismal results for the two sides. To this, the Opposition Leader opted to dodge the question.

The AFC failed to gain any substantial support in most Local Democratic Organs (LDO), weakening its weight in the coalition, while the APNU also lost support in some its strongholds, gaining less seats on some councils.
The LGE is used to elect council members for the 80 LDOs which includes 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC) and 10 municipalities.