Aubrey Norton and the PNCR

Sep 06, 2025 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The PNCR’s Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, was a man alone. His struggle to lead, and efforts to compete in the general and regional elections, confirmed how divided Guyana’s main political opposition party was during the most challenging time. When he thought he was among friends and comrades united in a common cause, he may not have known it, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Whatever friends he had, they were too few and too weak, while the enemies he managed to attract were legion and strong. This is the sad story of a political elephant that was once a national government, now not even able to muster a double-digit presence in the National Assembly.

Former president Granger may have made the difference between a successful Aubrey Norton and the one that Guyanese from all political walks now examine critically, and often not without some sympathy. Norton the leader must shoulder manfully whatever lashes come his way, and they have already started, with more likely to come from all quarters. An ex-president Granger, party veteran Granger, would have been able to serve as a shield for the embattled opposition leader, keep the wolves from getting too close. Mr. Granger has enough of a presence within the PNCR to ward off the ambitious, if only he had intervened and neutralized what threatened the energies of Norton and the stability of the party. The fact that the former president kept such a distance from his comrade didn’t do the current Opposition Leader any favors. It opened the door for others to step in and undermine the programme of Norton who just couldn’t seem to catch a break.

He lost colleagues and he lost them via a steady leak, and not to retirement, but to the political competition. Norton lost some of his comrades through a combination of failures, most of which can be traced to his own leadership style, his reported unbending vision of how the world should be. A little flexibility could have helped to keep some of the embarrassing and untimely departures within the party’s fold, and by his side. He lost some of them at the worst time, which was as the PNCR was gearing up for this year’s elections now history, save for the loose ends and the endless quarreling that hangs like a warning over Guyana.

An appearance from Mr. Granger, a word from him, could have gone a considerable distance to quell discontent, to defuse animosity. He was more comfortable to be the leader who retreated to his castle to exist in a world untouched by local developments. Whatever the message was intended, there was only one conveyed, when David Granger could not even stir from his lair and make a single appearance for Aubrey Norton on the campaign trail. Imagine the immense value, the incomparable boost, of a former president turning up at a party campaign rally. Next, consider the fillip to Mr. Norton in his drive to snatch victory away from a well-entrenched and formidable adversary, with a former army general and former political general fighting alongside him.

Who was hurting whom, when such was the action taken by Mr. Granger, when the record had only one line? For Aubrey Norton, for Aubrey all the way to the top. When David Granger retreated, he dragged Norton down with him. When the man that the people in the party looked to as their leader was nowhere in sight, then more than Aubrey Norton and his prospects were diminished. The PNCR and its chances at the poll took a beating, because the sense in the political field was that both the party and Norton were vulnerable, not fighting at full strength.

The wreckage is now obvious, and though the current Opposition Leader has to shoulder most of the blame for his party’s dismal performance, it didn’t have to be this way. A house that is divided has only one inevitability, which is that it will collapse, and can never be at its top fighting capability. It is obvious that history will deliver some hard blows to Aubrey Norton, most of which are deserving. A hand from David Granger could have cushioned some of them.

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Aubrey Norton, Editorial, Elections, PNCR

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