FOLLOWING a crushing defeat at the polls and being stripped of its opposition status, Aubrey Norton, although remaining leader of the A Partnership of National Unity (APNU) will not be returning to parliament.

APNU’s lead Member of Parliament (MP) will be businessman Terrence Campbell, reliable sources confirmed with the Guyana Chronicle.

Campbell is a former member of the A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and is the person who once threatened to “break the hands” of APNU Leader Norton during coalition negotiations.

Just last year, Campbell publicly lambasted Norton’s leadership and declared the opposition coalition process “untenable.”

Campbell had served as an interlocutor between the AFC (Alliance For Change) and APNU during talks to revive the coalition.

Eventually the coalition talks fell through even with the AFC offering to settle for just 35 per cent of political representation. Now, he’s officially part of the team he once doubted.

Further, the party will be finalising its list of parliamentarians today and it is expected that approximately six APNU MPs will be returning.

APNU, took a hit at the September 1 General and Regional Elections as the party only secured 12 seats in parliament, losing its position as the main opposition.

Meanwhile, newcomer, embattled businessman Azruddin Mohamed’s political outfit, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) is set to become the main opposition as it picked up 16 seats, according to results from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Based on the results, the WIN party flipped APNU’s strongholds including Region 10 (Upper-Demerara-Berbice).

In the last parliament, the APNU and AFC had held 31 seats in the National Assembly, forming the main parliamentary opposition, with APNU holding a majority of the seats, 22.

Meanwhile, former APNU parliamentarian Amanza Walton-Desir’s party, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) picked up one seat.

Six political parties contested the polls this year, but the PPP/C’s strong showing across the ten administrative regions has solidified its mandate to govern for an additional five years.

Based on the results, the PPP/C will return to office once again with a substantial parliamentary majority.

The PPP/C secured 36 seats in the National Assembly.