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After electoral drubbing… Norton signals major APNU shake-up
(Kaieteur News) – Former Leader of the Opposition and head of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton has announced plans for a major reorganisation of the coalition in the new year following its poor showing in the recent elections and loss of its position as the lead opposition.
Speaking on Sunday during PNCR’s programme Nation Watch with host Eden Corbin, Norton said the focus for 2026 will be on “reorganising, revitalising the PNCR and the APNU. When you come out of an election in which you suffer defeat, you cannot just bury your head in the sand,” he added. He highlighted that the party must confront issues that have accumulated over time, particularly disunity, while also emphasising the need to engage the youth. “What has happened, there were many things that accumulate, including the question of disunity in the party and all of those issues we will have to address,” Norton said.
Leader of APNU, Aubrey Norton
Norton also addressed the recent wave of resignations within the party, noting that many members joined with the primary goal of securing positions rather than serving the public. “We have allowed too many people to just come into the party and they come, they see position and the end game is position. We have to train party people to ensure that all understand that this thing is about service. Yes, everybody wants to be promoted. Everybody wants to be something. But if that is your major focus, what will happen is that when you don’t get what you want, you think you need to go somewhere else,” he explained.
The announcement comes in the wake of the resignation of former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Region Two Chairman, Prince Holder, who stepped down with immediate effect citing issues with the party’s leadership. Holder, who served as the party’s regional chairman for seven years, confirmed he will continue his role as regional councillor to support residents and development in Region Two, but will no longer participate in party activism.
Holder’s resignation is part of a broader departure from the party, which has seen several key members step down this year, particularly leading up to the June 2025 elections. Notable resignations included MPs Jermaine Figueira, Amanza-Walton Desir, Shurwayne Holder, Mervyn Williams, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Natasha Singh-Lewis, and Dawn Hastings-Williams. Many of the persons who resigned cited concerns about Norton’s leadership.
But Norton has defended his leadership, insisting that they are not a reflection of lost confidence in his abilities. “One of the realities you have to live with as political leaders is that you will have to make decisions and when you make decisions some of them there will be fallouts. I sense if some of the people who ‘resign’—and I put that in quotation—were in Parliament, they wouldn’t resign. To me, it is not so much an issue of the party and leadership. It’s a question of previously a lot of people that came to a political party came to serve,” he said.
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