NORTON’S OPTION

Jul 29, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The controversies surrounding yet another disgraceful Congress of the Peoples’ National Congress/Reform are raging. The disenfranchisement felt by persons who believed that they were delegates and thus entitled to vote at the Congress has stirred widespread debate within the society.
But within one month all is likely to be forgotten. Things will be restored back to normalcy and the challenge of Aubrey Norton will be put on the back burner of public interest. New issues will emerge that will galvanize the supporters of the opposition and the present leadership of the party will once again become the darlings of the now disenchanted supporters of the party.
When it comes to the party that people support, their memories of the wrongs and mistakes of that party are often shelved away into inaccessible recesses. Was it not just a few years ago that Vincent Alexander suffered the same fate as Aubrey Norton did this past weekend? And has history not repeated itself?
But very few people seem to have remembered the experience of Vincent Alexander. This is how short the memories of supporters of political parties have become. We repeat the mistakes of the past because we choose to forget it.
For those who wish for genuine change to emerge out of the confusion at the PNC/R Congress this past weekend it is necessary for them to not allow for one month to pass before deciding on their next step.
They must act now. They must build on the present discontent over the non-accreditation of delegates. They must not allow the moment to pass because if they do within one month they will be forgotten and sidelined, just as was done to Vincent Alexander.
Aubrey Norton is no political pushover. He is being presented as a mobilizer and a strongman of the party. But he is much more than that. He is also a solid academic whose intellect can outmatch any within the leadership of the PNCR. He has a deep and wide understanding of political theory and is perhaps the most profound thinker within the PNCR when it comes to power sharing and shared governance. His academic positions on this subject have been published. And as was shown at the last Congress he has support within the ranks of PNC/R supporters.
He knows that he has a significant following. That following did not emerge overnight. It began years ago when Vincent Alexander, Winston Murray and Carl Greendige were preparing their challenges to the leadership of the PNC/R. Norton was a key figure in both camps.
The support he enjoys has not waned. But it will within one month unless those willing to follow him are provided with leadership and with a strategy.
As a shrewd political thinker, Norton would know that he has to make a decision about his future and make it fast. He would have already been weighing up his options and deciding what to do.
There are a number of options on the table. The first would be to press for a Special Congress to demand fresh elections be held for the all the positions in the party. The issue is not just the leadership position. Norton and his team would have had a slate to contest other positions because any prospective leader wants to have a supportive cast in the Executive of the party.
As such there are other persons who would have been denied the opportunity to contest for other positions on the Executive because of the confusion over delegate accreditation and cards at the just concluded Congress of the PNCR.
Special Congresses have been held before. There is constitutional provision for the hosting of such Congresses and Norton and his team should explore whether they have the necessary leverage to force such a Congress. In deciding whether to press for a Special Congress of the party, an assessment would have to be made as to the possibility of the same old ploys that were used to disenfranchise Norton’s supporters will be reenacted. Unless there is confidence that the machinery to organize such a Congress and press for new elections are in place, then another option should be pursued.
That option would be to create a new PNC using the PNC. Given the personnel that are in Norton’s corner, such a development would create a political momentum that could see the reemergence of the old PNC.
The third option would be to bow out of politics all together. At age 57 that is still a strong possibility.
It is doubtful whether the AFC leadership would be interested in someone of the robustness of an Aubrey Norton. The leadership of the AFC would feel insecure in his presence. And of course they will see the possibility of capitalizing on his non-involvement in politics. As such, they are not likely to make any overtures towards him.
His political future, therefore, is really bound up with two options. Either he fights to have a Special Congress or he reestablishes the original PNC.
It is all up to him.  But he only has one month to make his decision.

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