Georgetown, Guyana – September 12, 2025 – Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has acknowledged that the absence of a coalition going into the September 1, 2025 General and Regional Election weakened A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) performance, but he maintains that the issue was not about who should lead the ticket.
Speaking at his weekly press conference, Norton said the coalition question was central. “I was all for coalition. I tried to be as flexible as possible but had to be faced with the reality and we just ended up going separately. In those separate endeavors, we have shown that we were much better than the others,” he stated. While conceding that “the lack of a coalition affected us,” Norton dismissed the idea that APNU should have yielded to the Alliance for Change (AFC) for the presidential candidacy, arguing instead that the real challenge was disunity, not leadership.
Norton also addressed criticism that APNU did not press hard enough for a clean voters list ahead of the elections. He argued that the government resisted any meaningful reform because “a change in the voters list would have meant a loss for them,” adding that APNU pressed both politically and legally but was limited by a High Court ruling which barred the removal of names. He said the only option had been for Parliament to approve changes, but “the government didn’t opt for it.” Norton again called for biometrics to combat impersonation.
On campaign financing, Norton explained that most of APNU’s resources came from the private sector, but he noted that the party had not fully accounted for the “level of vote-buying” that occurred. He described it as “an increasingly new phenomenon” which has further corrupted the political process and would need to be factored into future planning.
The Opposition Leader also defended the makeup of APNU’s 12-member parliamentary team, which includes 11 representatives from the People’s National Congress (PNC) and one from the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). He rejected suggestions that the list was too narrow, saying consideration was also given to individuals who joined APNU prior to the elections. “We thought this was the best representation,” he said.
Norton concluded by signalling a willingness to engage with other opposition forces, including the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party led by Azruddin Mohamed. “We are politicians and we believe we have to engage to achieve our objectives, and we will engage as we see fit,” he told reporters.
