I believe Aubrey Norton has more respect for certain leaders in the PPP’s hierarchy than he has for Nigel Hughes and Raphael Trotman. That belief came out of conversations with Aubrey long ago. I will go no further. For me, it was not surprising that Norton has rejected a Hughes consensus presidential candidate.

I still think that the PNC is considering two options – a presidential candidate from the PNC other than Norton or a consensus candidate but not Hughes. I knew Norton would have rejected Hughes for reasons of practical politics. Here are the factors why Norton rejected Hughes.

First, Norton thinks that the offer of the consensus position to Hughes would have been the PNC’s resurrection of a failed party that has now arisen from the dead and claiming ownership of the PNC itself. Norton feels that the PNC will be virtually conceding territory to a partner that is an infinitesimal political player.

Secondly, as a spin off from this, Norton views acceptance of a Hughes consensus choice by the PNC as a personal failure of Norton himself. The inescapable reality is that once Hughes was accepted, the juxtaposition was inevitable and the conclusion will be “Nigel is the better man, Aubrey failed that is why the PNC chose Nigel.” I know how Norton feels about Hughes and Trotman and I would bet all that I have that Norton would have seen a Hughes consensus pick as a personal failure for him, Norton.

Thirdly, I believe Norton and top PNC bigwigs do not want Hughes as the consensus candidate because it relegates the PNC to second fiddle. I have spoken to some sensitively placed people in the PNC who are not opposed to another election round for APNU+AFC but they want the PNC to dictate the terms to the AFC which does not include guarantee of specific amount of seats.

Fourthly, PNC constituencies seem to have a problem with Hughes for binary reasons. They see it as their man versus the AFC’s point man – Nigel Hughes, and why should their guy give way to Nigel. Strangely, PNC constituencies would accept another PNC Leviathan other than Norton leading them into the 2025 poll and a consensus candidate but not Hughes.
I think the problem here is not one that Hughes created but what is reality – two big names competing to lead a coalition into the election and PNC constituencies do not want their big man conceding such an immense prize to a newcomer.

Fifthly, Norton believes in his mind that although he prefers coalition politics, the AFC cannot win votes because it is a spent force. So, Norton is not prepared to give any strategic or advantageous position to the AFC.

Norton’s position is unambiguous – yes, join us but we are the bigger ones so we will call the shots.

Having looked at the reasons for Norton rejecting Hughes, one must examine the practical situation as it currently exists. Hughes leading a coalition for the 2025 poll will automatically be seen all over this country as the AFC returning to politics and Guyanese do not want to see or hear about the AFC. The analyst must ask him/herself what about the AFC that Nigel doesn’t get. The AFC became dead meat a long time ago. Guyanese people will not vote for the AFC.

What Nigel is trying to accomplish in the AFC is mission impossible. The AFC has a terrible image in Guyana and the fundamental requirement for Nigel was to transform the AFC so deeply that it would look like a new organism. Sadly, and strangely, this is what Nigel doesn’t get. He sought leadership of the AFC, and it is not a new or transformed AFC.

It is the same old party with faces that people do not want to ever see in politics again. Nigel went into murky waters when he took over the leader position and failed to secure a high-level Indian name to be on the pyramid. As it stands, the number 1, 2, 3 and 4 positions are allotted to African Guyanese. Moses Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan are out of the hierarchy.

Is this the work of Nigel? My answer is no. Nigel simply could not have gotten a trusted Indian name to put that person in the hierarchy because such people have left the AFC since 2020, and they were not replaced. There is no high-profile Indian person in the AFC that could have run for the four top positions in the party.

I have not made up my mind about seat allocation for the AFC in November, but I believe the AFC may be facing total wipe out.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.