Georgetown, Guyana – September 12, 2025 – APNU Leader Aubrey Norton says the key lesson from the September 1, 2025 general election is that political parties must now match financial power with financial power, after the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party “outspent and outperformed” APNU.
At his weekly press conference, Norton admitted that the outcome showed money had played a decisive role. “The major lesson to be learned from this election is that the next election you’re going to, you have to have a war chest to match the money, because money is playing a more critical role in elections now than policies, programs, etc.,” he said. His comments came in response to questions about WIN’s rapid rise and its success in drawing votes from APNU’s base.
Norton also addressed concerns about candidate selection, “The decision lies within this party and that decision has been made. I don’t have to give any explanation as to why. Once we in the party are satisfied, then that will be done,” he stated. On citizenship queries, he insisted that as far as he is aware, political commentator Dr. David Hinds is not an American citizen.
Former Finance Minister Winston Jordan had recently called for Norton to resign, but Norton declined to respond directly. “There are multiplicity of reasons why anything could have happened. I read what Jordan said and the press in handling it select what they wanted, which is normal for them. But I would not go down that road at this stage,” he said.
Asked to reflect on APNU’s wider losses, Norton stressed that a full review is underway. “When you’re reviewing something like an election, the candidate will have to be reviewed, the structures will have to be reviewed, the history will have to be reviewed. We’ll have to review how the last government impacted a number of things,” he explained. He added that the process has already begun and will be done “with urgency,” though there is no set timeline and the results may not be made public.
Norton also linked low turnout in APNU areas to doubts about electoral fairness. “Anywhere in the world, including Guyana, where people believe an election is likely to be rigged and the outcome predetermined, there is the tendency for people to sleep too,” he argued.
He was further questioned about the departure of Amanza Walton-Desir, who resigned from APNU in June 2025 and later contested the elections with her own party. Norton conceded her departure was a loss. “She was a good candidate. We lost a good candidate when we lost Ms. Walton-Desir,” he said, but he resisted speculating on whether her presence would have changed the outcome.
The Opposition Leader closed by stressing that APNU would focus on strengthening its structures and learning from the 2025 results, but avoided committing to a timeline for when the party would make its findings public.
