–criticises Norton’s leadership of the PNC

KNOWN People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) member James Bond has criticised Chairman of the APNU and Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, Aubrey Norton, for being slothful and abandoning the party’s grassroots supporters.

This comes in the wake of a poor turnout of supporters on Nomination Day for the upcoming Local Government Elections. The Opposition is not contesting all of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAA).

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), backed by 2,000 candidates and 26,000 supporters, is contesting in all of the LAAs, and their supporters turned out in large numbers to rally around the party on Monday.

“Let me be on record today, April 18, 2023, in saying I’ve never seen, in my 10-plus years of political life, a lazier bunch! I entered politics seeing comrades work today; the level of activism and militancy is ZERO!

“It’s a shame that under the leader who symbolises the grassroots, those who are supposed to work with him have abandoned the grassroots. Not to worry, though. Long live the PNC,” Bond said on his Facebook page.

Norton has recently faced increased scrutiny as more members of his party have spoken out against him. Some have accused him of being too authoritarian and not listening to the concerns of his colleagues.

Despite this criticism, Norton has remained steadfast in his approach and has not indicated any plans to change his leadership style.

Former Mayor and longstanding supporter of the PNC/R, Patricia Chase-Green, and former APNU member Trichria Richards are among many opposition supporters who have crossed over to the PPP/C, citing a loss of confidence for this decision.

In a Facebook live video, James Bond called out the opposition “social media” commentators for their attack on some of the new faces that have joined the PPP/C.

“All the social media commentators…that got talking about soup drinkers and house slaves and all that. Nobody is afraid of you. It ain’t got no time about the name-calling. You could call people right, could stop them from going to PPP/C and put on their red shirt.

“You could call any name, people ain’t get time with that right now. Except you could give your constituents hope… you could appeal to your constituents [and say] ‘look we’ve got your back… come high water come low water, we are there for you’,” he said.

He criticised the party for not doing enough groundwork and flaking on its supporters. Expressing his dissatisfaction, Bond said his heart “broke” when he saw the little support the party had on Nomination Day, but he is not surprised.

Based on photos, only Norton, his General-Secretary Dawn Hastings-Williams, and Jermaine Figueira were out in the fields for Nomination Day, while the rest of the opposition members were nowhere to be seen.

James criticised the party for not putting the youth first to take over the mantle, thus robbing them of opportunities.

“…you’re losing the young people. You’re losing them because they are not in front. They are not taking the energy. You got to get the young people involved because if you don’t use the young people, you’re gonna lose the young people.

“But what are [sic] we been doing over the past couple of years? We have been calling each other house slaves. We have been calling each other soup drinkers. We have been calling each other slave catchers and all that, but you ain’t focusing on the people’s votes. So, you now running helter-skelter,” he said.

The APNU is currently facing backlash over comments made by executive member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), David Hinds, who disparaged a number of PNC/R Indo-Guyanese members for speaking out against racist and incendiary remarks made by the WPA.

Hinds had said that the PNC/R Indo-Guyanese members were only there to attract Indo-Guyanese voters.

Hinds referred to Indo-Guyanese PNC/R member Geeta Chandan-Edmond as a “slave catcher” for having condemned remarks made by WPA member Tacuma Ogunseye, who made racially charged remarks against East Indians at a public meeting at Buxton, East Coast Demerara.

Hinds had also directed comments at PNC/R Parliamentarians Ganesh Mahipaul and Natasha Singh-Lewis; Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram, and Mayor Ubraj Narine, who had issued a joint statement condemning the remarks of another WPA member, Rhonda Layne.