PEOPLE’S National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) General-Secretary Geeta Chandan-Edmond may not return to Parliament unless the rift with party leader Aubrey Norton is repaired, according to multiple party sources.

Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones said that Chandan-Edmond is expected to be among the Members of Parliament (MP) present on the Opposition benches come Monday.

“Monday is Parliament, all of the MPs will be in session save and except for the eight of us that [sic] have been suspended. Monday is the sitting and all of the members will be there,” Jones related.

Chandan-Edmond has been on extended leave for close to three months.

Questioned about the situation, Jones said he sees nothing unusual.

“She’s an officer of the party and officers of the party would go on leave every now and again depending on what it is, whether personal leave or whatever the case may be. But unless she is out of the jurisdiction, as MP you would be expected to attend Parliament,” Jones related.

Jones confirmed however that Chandan-Edmond has still not given a timeline on when she would be expected to return to her General-Secretary post. That is notwithstanding the need for political parties to get into campaign mode with the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs), with nominations day just weeks away on December 12.

Chandan-Edmond had initially applied for leave from the party from August 10 to September 4, reportedly to deal with personal matters. However, at the end of that period, she applied for an extension of her leave. The extension appears indefinitely.

An Attorney-at-Law and former Magistrate, Chandan-Edmond had been appointed to serve as the PNC/R General-Secretary since January, 2022, shortly after the party’s elections in December. Unlike other members of the PNCR executive, the General-Secretary is not elected but is appointed by the leader of the party. Current Leader of the PNC/R is Aubrey Norton.

However, details have been emerging that Chandan-Edmond extended her leave as a result of a strained relationship between herself and Norton.

Several sources within the party laid blame on Norton’s leadership style for the wedge driven between Chandan-Edmond and the party’s leadership. The sources pointed to Norton’s “arrogance” in his approach to contentious issues, oftentimes seeking to silence dissenting voices within the party.

It has been close to three months since Chandan-Edmond was seen at a public event hosted by the party or its umbrella, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, of which the PNCR is the largest member.

In addition to supposedly being sidelined by Norton, Chandan-Edmond has also been keeping a low profile, giving up public appearances. Several calls to her phone went unanswered in the past few days.

There are growing concerns by party stalwarts about the confrontational stance adopted by Norton that alienates parts of the party membership.