AUBREY Norton has been in the PNC’s war-room for too long not to be familiar with skullduggery when it comes to internal elections within the PNC.

Annette Ferguson made a vitriolic assault on her party when she complained bitterly about the election drama for Georgetown party chairman in October 2022.

This newspaper in its Thursday, October 20, 2022 issue quotes Ferguson as saying: “The time has come for the PNCR to rise to the occasion of practising fairness, honesty and being democratic when it comes to its internal business or affairs.”
Former, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, on a recent interview with me, said that, in today’s world, distance from the scene has become irrelevant because of technology. Well, this is not really so.

You have to be on the ground and talk to people who will give you confidential information and so you become familiar with nuances of a story that you will definitely lack if you are not inside the frame. The people in the diaspora cannot know what is taking place inside the PNC leading up to its August leadership challenge because they are not on the ground.

One of the challengers to Norton asked me if he should run if there is skullduggery and I told him he should not because when he loses he will be described as a sour-grape loser. There are only two ways Aubrey Norton can remain in the PNC as its leader.

One relates to the delegate selection system. At a “watering hole” on Thomas Street, North Cummingsburg, many moons ago, a senior party member once told me in any party election, whoever controls the credential committee will win the election.
The other way is for a huge split in the vote among contenders. There are three names who will contest against Norton.

The problem is that each has a constituency of their own and therefore each will split the vote. Norton has his own constituency and thus his firm support from that quarter may carry him home.
For Norton to be ousted, if the election is free and fair, is for two of the candidates to withdraw and have a consensus contender or if egos get in the way, then do a George Chambers on Norton.

When Eric Williams lay dying, the bigwigs in the PNM leadership refused to stand down in favour of a consensus pick. So they all agreed that among them none will become Prime Minister of Trinidad so they settled on a dark horse – George Chambers.

The Grenadian Revolution would still have been alive today if a wiser head had become influential and was able to influence Maurice Bishop, the Prime Minister and his Deputy, Bernard Coard to step down and go for a neutral third party.

I was an adviser to the government at the time, with my work being very invisible and I know there was absolutely no way anyone in the Grenada ruling party would accept a third party. It was either Bishop or Coard. In the end, the failure to choose a dark horse killed the Grenada Revolution.

So will the three contenders call it George, step down and let there be a George Chambers moment? If they don’t, Norton will remain. If he wins because of a split vote then, the PNC will not survive. If the election is marred by skullduggery, the PNC will implode. In August, 2024, the PNC will be facing its most dire moment since its birth in 1957.

At least six of the big names in the PNC will not accept a Norton continuation at the top of the hierarchy if the election is tampered with.
They will either leave or institute guerrilla warfare, both of which will threaten the life of the party.

The resentment against Norton is the largest demonstration of lack of faith in the leader in the history of the PNC.
One of the huge fears among those who want Norton out is that under Norton, the PNC will suffer more than a five seat loss as what happened under Robert Corbin in the 2006 general election. Two political maladies have crept into the PNC leadership under Norton.

One is that funds from business people have dried up. The PNC is nearing the status of being broke. The second one is that there is no enthusiasm among party cells throughout Guyana.

If it wasn’t for sessions of Parliament, where PNC speakers get quoted in the media, no one would know what the PNC leaders are doing and saying. Of course, the largest political malady is Norton’s personality style. Norton is not prepared to install a consultation machine in the PNC. From Van-West Charles to Jermaine Figueira, the PNC is hemorrhaging.