Norton it’s time to exit

Dec 16, 2025 Editorial, News

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(Kaieteur News) – Leadership is ultimately judged not by intention, rhetoric, or personal loyalty, but by results. By that unforgiving but necessary standard, Aubrey Norton’s continued insistence on playing a frontline role in the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the APNU coalition is no longer defensible. After presiding over one of the most crushing electoral defeats in the party’s history, Norton’s refusal to exit the stage gracefully is deepening internal fractures, eroding public confidence and risking further electoral irrelevance.

Since APNU’s decisive loss at the September 1 general and regional elections, Norton has maintained a curious posture, simultaneously retreating from Parliament while aggressively inserting himself into the public narrative. He opted not to return to the National Assembly, instead assigning parliamentary leadership to businessman Dr. Terrence Campbell. Yet, despite this deliberate distancing from parliamentary responsibility, Norton continues to dominate press conferences and media engagements.

The contradiction is glaring. If Parliament is now entrusted to a new team, why does Norton still feel compelled to be the chief public face of a party attempting to regroup after a historic defeat? What value does he believe he brings at this moment, particularly when his presence seems to reinforce, rather than repair, the damage done?

The public response has been telling. Comments following Norton’s recent media appearances have been scathing, not just from political opponents but from traditional supporters and ordinary citizens. The messaging rings hollow. The credibility is gone. And the optics of a leader clinging to relevance after overwhelming rejection at the polls are deeply unflattering.

Yet Norton remains defiant. He has repeatedly dismissed calls for his resignation, even as the party bleeds experienced and influential members. Only last week, he insisted that the steady stream of resignations from the PNCR has nothing to do with his leadership. He claims to have heard no dissatisfaction from the party’s top brass, an assertion that strains credulity given the public nature of many departures and the pointed criticisms accompanying them.

Before the September elections and immediately after, a slate of senior PNCR figures and Members of Parliament including Jermaine Figueira, Amanza Walton-Desir, Shurwayne Holder, Mervyn Williams, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Natasha Singh-Lewis, and Dawn Hastings-Williams resigned. Since then, the departures have continued. Former Region Two Chairman Prince Holder cited “irreconcilable differences with the current leadership” when he stepped down. Former Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine went further, delivering a blistering critique of the party’s direction under Norton.

Still, Norton maintains that these resignations are merely the grumblings of disappointed individuals denied parliamentary seats or council positions. This explanation may offer comfort to the leader, but it insults the intelligence of party members and the wider electorate. Veteran stalwarts do not abandon a political home lightly, nor do they risk reputations to settle petty grievances. When seasoned party figures walk away in succession, leadership not ambition is the common denominator.

The reality is unavoidable: Norton is the problem. And increasingly, even within PNCR circles, there is growing consensus that he cannot be part of the solution. The voters have already rendered their verdict. On September 1, they delivered the worst electoral performance for the PNCR since Independence in 1966—nearly 60 years ago. If that outcome does not demand accountability at the highest level, then the concept of leadership responsibility is meaningless. In democracies worldwide, leaders who preside over catastrophic defeats understand the signal. They step aside not out of humiliation, but out of respect for the institution they lead and the future they claim to care about. Norton has chosen the opposite path: to linger, to deny, and to rationalise, even as the party’s foundation continues to erode beneath him.

What is unfolding now is not renewal, but slow-motion decline. The steady trickle of resignations threatens to become a full-scale exodus. Each departure weakens the party’s capacity to rebuild, attract new talent and reconnect with a skeptical electorate.

There is still an opportunity for dignity. Aubrey Norton can choose to exit the stage gracefully, preserving what remains of his political legacy and sparing the PNCR further embarrassment, both in membership attrition and future electoral defeat. If he truly cares about the party’s survival and resurgence, that choice should no longer be difficult. The longer he stays, the clearer it becomes: the PNCR cannot move forward while being anchored to its most painful recent failure.

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• APNU, Aubrey Norton, Editorial, electoral defeat, PNCR

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