LEADER of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Aubrey Norton, on Tuesday, could not give any information to support or substantiate a claim of a ‘mysterious political poll’, which he claims, shows that the main opposition will win the next Local Government Election (LGEs).

Norton made the claims during his weekly virtual press conference.

Some have likened Norton’s mysterious poll showing the APNU+AFC in the lead, to claims by the APNU+AFC during the 2020 General and Regional Elections, that their Statements of Poll (SOPs) showed that the Coalition had won the elections.

During the past two years, the APNU+AFC has been continuously pressed to produce their ‘winning’ SoPs since the SoPs produced by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) showed that of all votes cast, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) received 233,336 votes while the APNU+AFC Coalition obtained 217,920 votes.

Similar to skirting around calls for the release of their 2020 SoPs, when pressed to provide evidence of the poll favourable to the Coalition, the Leader of the Opposition (LoO) evaded the questions.

“If I tell you my source the persons in the PPP [People’s Progressive Party Civic] will be dealt with, it is protecting the people who divulge it that it makes it a source of privacy,” was all that Norton would offer.

According to Norton, the “poll” was carried out by the PPP/C and shows that the combined APNU+AFC would beat the PPP/C at the next elections. A poll is a survey in which people are asked their opinions about something. In politics, qualified experts carry out polls in the lead up to an elections to determine the popularity of the respective participating parties.

In spite of the massive in-fighting, public criticisms of poor leadership and resignations, Norton’s claims that the electorate has confidence in the coalition. It is not clear whether the APNU+AFC will contest the upcoming elections and if they do, whether they will contest it together or separately as in the 2018 LGEs. In those elections, the AFC was decimated and the APNU suffered heavy losses.

Local Government Elections is set for March 13, 2023.

Questioned on why the APNU and AFC continue to be dubious on their participation in the upcoming LGEs if a poll showed they had a clear lead, Norton claimed the APNU+AFC would not win big enough.

Touching on the issue during his weekly programme “Issues in the News”, Attorney-General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandalall denounced any existence of the “poll” which Norton claims he has in his possession. Several other members of the PPP also swatted the claim by Norton.

Nandalall called into question Norton’s inability to properly answer questions asked by the media about the poll and reprimanded the LoO for his attack on reporters during the press conference, for asking valid questions about matters he (Norton) raised.