SINCE the beginning of the year, the future of Aubrey Norton as the leader of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), and Chaiman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is in shambles, with his having to quell many attempts by some of the Executive Members to either upstage him, or overthrow him altogether.
Norton has been hanging on, and has had cause to change several Party members and executives from his inner circle because of issues related to trust and loyalty.

These days, he is taking the least number of chances and risks, as he seeks to navigate the Party structure long enough until the next biennial congress, which he is hoping and praying will give him a chance to be re-elected as the leader and presidential candidate of the PNC/R.
But inside sources say that Norton is alone, and cornered by two major cliques of the Party, even though he is leader and, seemingly, all-powerful. The cliques are for the politics of David Granger and the PNC/R middle-class politics, and the others are the supporters of the new PNC/R which embraces the youths, modern thinkers, the underdogs, and changers of the direction the Party will ply.

Norton is holding on to a few influential Party die-hard supporters, many of them racists and extreme personalities, to stave off any challenge or political bullyism he may face, as was the case with the sour situation of the selection of persons to be appointed Mayors and Deputy Mayors.
Secondly, Norton is barely surviving in the National Assembly, and is behaving poorly as Coalition Leader and Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition. He is being mocked constantly by the government side, with even the newcomers having a go at him with insults and questions.

They would never admit it, but there is a rift among Norton, APNU MPs, the AFC and those other MPs taking up space in Parliament. These developments mean that the APNU+AFC is deeply divided in Parliament. And, it is anyone’s guess as to why. Norton is not playing the game by the rules of the PNC ‘King Makers’.
Also, he is not very keen on the change-agents and progressive PNC/R faction that wants the Party to embrace youth and modern strategies to unseat the PPP or the government, because that would mean the PNC/R without Norton at the helm.

Whichever way the wind blows, it is abundantly clear that Norton is not going to hold on much longer, as hope, which he promised in 2020, has changed into almost certain haplessness. And the Party’s finances are in danger of being wiped out, as Norton seems to be directly responsible for the alleged squandermania and corruption that this taking place with PNC/R funds. After all, former Party Treasurer Faaiz Mursaline is on record as saying that he signed blank cheques, and suffered verbal abuse from Norton and others whenever he spoke out against the lack of transparency.

In all areas, the PNC/R, under the leadership of Norton, has suffered a major setback, and is still licking the wounds of the defeat it suffered at the hands of the PPP/C in 2020. Norton has not done anything major to help the Party rebound.
The PNC/R is weaker now than it was in the early 2000s. Though he promised unity, togetherness and political tolerance, Norton is yet to deliver the goods or the Party from the clutches of cliquism, warmongering and pettiness.

Also, the Party is suffering from brain drain, as members are leaving as soon as they get wind of the ‘Nortonism’, which means the process of acting as if you are doing the people’s work and saying you are doing it but sitting enjoying the perks and benefits of being at the helm of politics.
This ‘Nortonism’ has led to Party super structure exposed to the political environment which is very unpredictable and uncertain. It has decimated the hope of attracting new political talent and expertise from all walks of life, because of a leader’s inability to recognise that his time in the political life of the PNC/R is coming to a close or an end.

In the school of ‘Nortonism’, a leader must be forced out, if they don’t want to accept defeat. The political pariahs in the PNC/R are taking note, and that is why they are calling for a General Council of the Party. They smell blood, and are hungry for it.
Norton’s fate is hanging in the balance, and he knows this. They know it as well.