PPP bad for Guyana – Norton tells massive NA rally

Aug 04, 2025 News

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…vows to rid country of corruption, nepotism

By Shermon Hawker

Kaieteur News – As Guyana inches closer to the 2025 general and regional elections, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) took its campaign efforts to the town of New Amsterdam on Saturday evening, where citizens were given an emphatic illustration of what the town and the country could become, should the party assume the reins of power on September 1.

Leading the charge was presidential candidate, Aubrey Norton, who, in his impassioned remarks, admonished citizens to use their constitutional right of voting to ensure the expulsion of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, maintaining that Guyana cannot endure a next term of the incumbent.

Norton crafted a large portion of his presentation on beliefs of corruption in the PPP/C administration under President Irfaan Ali, who he accused of facilitating many cover-ups, and at whose feet blame should be laid for what Norton sums up as destruction of Guyana.

“My friends, I come to you this evening because the PPP has destroyed this country. There was a time in Guyana when you could have gone to the police and expect justice, but the PPP has politicised the Guyana Police Force. They have destroyed it. And so, our task is to get rid of them and restore law and order,” the APNU leader implored before very animated supporters.

Enforcing his point, Norton labelled the recent police officers’ promotion by President Ali as an overreach, noting that the police commissioner and the police service commission bear such responsibilities. That the officers were promoted only in the election phase and not during the earlier part of the PPP/C’s tenure is evidence of political gimmick, the politician opined.

The presidential candidate swung hard against the government’s manipulation of the GPF in the investigation into Adriana Younge’s death, which is still a raw wound in the minds of many across and beyond Guyana. Norton holds the government culpable. “But when a political cabal could seek to cover up the murder of an 11-year-old child, it is time for them to go.”

In recent months, there has been a massive issuance of contracts for roadwork, drainage, and construction. Norton reflected on a period where persons were handed contracts on a merit basis, contrasted by the present under the PPP government, where a person only has to sign a PPP membership form for contract eligibility. Were it actually ‘One Guyana’, all Guyanese would have received contracts in a fair way, he stated.

Norton tore into government’s infrastructure policies, and, centering his point directly on New Amsterdam, quizzed the audience on why the promised athletics track on the outskirts of the town has not yet been completed, although it was budgeted for since 2019.

New Amsterdam, Guyana’s oldest town, is generally recognised as a traditional APNU base. Cognisant of this, Norton implored that residents place their X next to the palm. He committed his party’s plan for a major road project that would see a direct link with New Amsterdam and Linden, as part of a broader national endeavor to link regions across Guyana.

The seasoned politician stressed that for far too long, the country’s resources have been in the hands of the PPP, their family, friends and favorites, but signaled APNU’s intention to end that.

He highlighted his party’s desire to enact programmes to take the population out of poverty, and make it a place where security is a hallmark.

“We have to make Guyana a place where people enjoy a better life. We want Guyanese to be safe and secure., while vowing to remove the “misfits” at the helm of the GPF should APNU secure office.

Former government minister, Nigel Dharamlall, who has been accused of rape, has been featured on the PPP/C’s list of candidates. Expressing his disappointment, Norton regarded that as merely cultural of the administration, bent on protecting their own and exploiting authority. “The signal they sent there is that if you are powerful, you could do young women anything in this country, and we must vote against it,” he stated.

“Let it be made very clear that a government under the APNU will ensure there is rule of law and if you commit a crime, regardless of your status, you should do the time.”

For five years, he highlighted, the PPP has failed Guyana, even as he stressed on the exponential rise in poverty, “while their people, that elite group, they got extremely wealthy.”

He reminded the audience that it was the former coalition government that gave a 77 per cent increase to public sector workers between 2015 and 2020 without funds from oil. An APNU government promises to give the lion’s share of any increase to the ones at the lowest level, he assured.

Norton’s presentation was preceded by the vice-presidential hopeful, Ganesh Mahipaul whose views of corruption in the PPP government ran parallel to his leader. He signaled to the incumbent that September 1 is its final day in government, and proceeded to give previews of the immediate measures APNU will implement. Taking umbrage with the performance of Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, Mahipaul assured that by the stroke of Norton’s presidential pen, Hicken will be removed.

“He is an embarrassment to the Guyana Police Force. He is neither certified nor qualified for that position. And we will ensure that we return dignity, we return service and protection to that institution. I want the police officers to know that we will increase the income tax threshold to GUY $400,000, promised an upbeat Mahipaul.

Certain of an APNU victory at the polls, he declared to the crowd a fact worthy of note: that Guyana will have its first indigenous prime minister in Juretha Fernandes.

The young politician made contrasts with Norton and his political opponents, considering him as the only one aboveboard in morality and decency as a public official, one whose 50 plus years in public life is exemplar and without blemish of scandals or misdemeanors. “One month from now, we will elect a clean, lean individual who has been in political life for over 50 years and has no corruption to his name. And on September 1, we will call him ‘His Excellency, Aubrey Compton Norton’.”

“It is time for us to elect a government that cares, a government that has your interests at heart, a government that cares for the ordinary, hardworking, taxpaying Guyanese in this country.”

Echoing the party leader, Mahipaul affirmed that in order for the country to flourish, the PPP must be removed from office, and by so doing, an Aubrey Norton-led government will guide Guyana on the path to growth and development by practical and people-centered policies.

“Comrades, all of our policies, all of our directions, everything that we have in our manifesto that will be released to the public soon caters for me and you. It caters for the ordinary, it is for all of us. It is a people-centered development policy and it will drive development in Guyana.”

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• APNU, Aubrey Norton, corruption, Elections, Ganesh Mahipaul, nepotism, PPPC, rally

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