A POLITICAL party was birthed by a wealthy Muslim, Indian man three months before the national and regional elections were due in September this year. At the time, he was sanctioned by the American Government and was before the court for alleged customs evasion. He controlled his party like a family business, where his two sisters and his Caucasian European brother-in-law were the decision-making voices in the entity.

This man’s party had no head office, no party membership, and no administrative edifice. That organisation contested the 2025 poll and literally, politically, scientifically, and in terms of ethnic cross-voting, devastated not the PPP but the PNC. It gutted the PNC in its traditional strongholds. It received 16 parliamentary seats at the expense of the PNC and took away the regional governments that the PNC had administered for decades.

In no other part of the world could the leader of that demoralised, defeated, dehumanised organisation have remained as the leader. They say some things never happen in real life. They are some things you only find in comic books. But it has become a reality in Guyana.

The defeated, humiliated leader not only has remained in office, but also announced that his role is to preserve the party (that he killed) by teaching the younger ones about politics. For a party born in 1957 that became an integral part of Guyana and is regarded as one of the great political organisations in the CARICOM family, absolutely no one associated with this legendary institution in Guyana, CARICOM, and the world, except one person, has politely or aggressively demanded that the leader leave his leadership position.

That exception is former Finance Minister Winston Jordan. It is a surreal moment that refuses to go away that no one that has been part of the greatness of the PNC, that once was part of the different governments of the PNC, could see the danger of extinction facing the PNC and intervene to save the PNC from Aubrey Norton.

Now here is the Mephistophelean intervention. The leader stayed on after the electoral tides swept the PNC into the mighty Atlantic and then, all by himself, named the coterie of parliamentarians without consulting the leadership of the party, including his deputy, Sherwin Holder. The elected treasurer and executive member, Elson Lowe, told the Freddie Kissoon Show that Norton did not even consult the PNC’s leadership, much less ask for their input in deciding who goes to parliament.

The Mephistophelean waltz continued when the 12 named parliamentarians did not include the party’s faithful stalwarts, whose experience and special talent were completely dismissed. The dance of death went on when the leader named the party’s parliamentary leader, who at the time of the submission of the GECOM list of candidates was not a party member.

This man is a pure newcomer to politics without even an ounce of knowledge of what politics and parliament are about and just weeks before the elections, was part of a bandwagon that, if succeeded, would have seen another person other than Aubrey Norton contesting the republic’s presidency.

So the macabre moment in the PNC lives on. And to date, no one in this legendary institution in Guyana who by him/herself has contributed to the anatomy and physiology of the party can muster even a faint voice of dissent. My contention is that what is currently taking place in the PNC would have had no parallel in modern politics going way back to the 20th century, and currently has no parallel in any democratic country on Planet Earth.

What is happening to the PNC is surreal, incredible, and unbelievable. A party leader who reigned over such an electoral disaster as what happened to the PNC this year and who continues to destroy the PNC through unbelievable totalitarian edicts remains untouchable. To think that only one former PNC minister can call for Norton’s exit is beyond belief.

The danger to the very existence of the PNC can be linked to a medical ailment. The drugs relieve the pain. The ailment ceases and the body recovers when the operation takes out the particular cause of the body’s ailment. The longer Mr. Norton remains as the PNC’s sole decision-maker, the deeper the malignancy gets and the harder it is to repair the damage.

There are only two crucial pathways facing the PNC. Remove Mr. Norton, implement collective decision-making formats with extensive plans to revitalise the once robustness of the PNC as a major political player. The other alternative is to allow the rampage of Norton to continue and to let gradual death occur.

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.