–persons who joined the party with own ambitions, interests

LEADER of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton has said that he believes his party did its best at the recently held elections, but attributed its dismal performance to internal discord and undermining, among other things.

Norton made this known during an interview on “Sources,” which was aired on Sunday evening.

As he reflected on the results of the elections, he admitted that there were areas the party could have improved on, particularly the formation of a coalition.

“Some people who wanted a coalition became disenchanted, but again, it’s water under the bridge,” he said, adding that greater unity within the party structure could have made a difference.

Against this backdrop, Norton stated that he took over leadership of the party at a difficult time.

“I took it over, not in an environment that was friendly. I took it over in an environment where many people were appointed to Parliament who were never members of the party pursuing their own interests,” Norton explained, describing the period as turbulent.

Adding to this, the party leader said that there had been deliberate efforts to weaken his leadership.

“Yes, it is true that a lot of people did undermine, where you would see some of them were already working with the PPP. I had known, for instance, that there was a plan to undermine and to ensure that I don’t succeed,” he said.

According to him, this culture of disunity stemmed from individuals who entered the party without being grounded in its principles, bringing their own “agenda[s] and ambitions.”

Norton maintained that despite these challenges, he resisted moves to separate the APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC).

While the party gained only 12 seats in the 65-seat parliament, he said that he is stepping away from parliament, but will remain at the helm of the party during this time.

He said that he will remain in the leadership role to ensure that the party is stable, and when new leadership comes, they will not be abandoned. A seamless transition to new leadership can occur, he emphasised.

At the 2025 elections, the APNU performed poorly, receiving just approximately 17 per cent of the votes, putting them behind the newly-formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party.

Poor performances were recorded in several of its strongholds, including Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and 10 (Upper Demerara- Upper Berbice), and because of this the party will no longer be the main parliamentary opposition. That position will now be occupied by WIN.