JERMAINE Figueira has swiftly rejected claims of incompetence made by People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Leader, Aubrey Norton, dismissing them as a desperate attempt to save face amid internal dissent and a growing exodus from the party.
On June 28, Figueira resigned from the party, citing troubling matters such as a shameful dereliction of national duty, moral collapse and ethnic division within the party. His departure adds to a list of high-profile members resigning under Norton’s watch.
Instead of addressing these serious claims, Norton, during a press conference on Friday last, said that the slew of resignations would not impact the party. Norton heavily criticised Figueira, a prominent political figure in Linden.
“We don’t consider him a heavyweight because the work that was required as a party in Region 10 wasn’t being done,” Norton said, later adding, “It had to do with competence or lack of it, not anything to do with [being] sidelined.”
He opined that Figueira was underperforming in Region 10, particularly ahead of the last Local Government Elections. He also criticised Figueira’s performance as the shadow Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, and sought to justify his removal from that spot.
But while Norton focused much of his criticism on Figueira, his party continues to grapple with a much deeper issue: a steady exodus of figures who have expressed dissatisfaction with his leadership and the path that the once major party is going down.
Figueira, in an invited comment to the Sunday Chronicle said, “I’m not inclined to enter into a tit for tat rebuttal of Norton’s political sophistry in his moment of desperation. The intelligent members of that party and across the Guyanese society will see through his attempts to slake the anger and frustration of the constituents banging at his door. Political expediency demands that he does.”
Figueira said that he stands by his initial statement and will not engage in the back-and-forth. He further stated that Norton is doing what he has to do with his “own limited and rapidly diminishing influence.”
“Last week I was competent to be in ‘his administration’ and the other week I am ‘incompetent’ and with respect to my role as shadow Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture, even the minister of that said portfolio would strongly disagree with him,” the key Linden figure said.