HGP Nightly News – PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton is rejecting suggestions that the People’s National Congress Reform or the wider APNU coalition is falling apart, despite recent defections from the opposition to the governing PPP/C.
Appearing on KAMS TV’s Morning Time programme, Norton said the PNCR remains a strong political institution, even as he acknowledged that the party, like all long-standing organisations, has internal challenges.
“I don’t see the PNC as falling apart. It’s a strong institution,” Norton said.
He also rejected the view that the coalition is collapsing, though he admitted that coalitions require constant work to remain together.
“I don’t see the coalition as falling apart, though coalitions are generally unstable, and it’s a lot of hard work to keep them together,” he stated.
Norton argued that political crossovers are not new in Guyana. He said the country’s political history shows that when one party appears dominant, some persons are drawn toward that side because they believe that is where opportunity exists.
He pointed to the period when the PNC was in government, saying some PPP supporters crossed over because they believed the PPP had little chance of gaining political power at the time.
According to Norton, a similar pattern is now playing out, but under different circumstances because Guyana is an oil-producing country.
He said oil wealth has created a strong pull factor, with some persons seeking access to resources controlled by the current administration.
“You now have oil and there are a lot of persons who want to access resources,” Norton said.
He accused the PPP/C government of creating an environment where access to national wealth is linked to political support.
“The government’s approach has been, if you are not supportive of them in any fashion, then you will not share in the oil wealth,” he said.
Norton argued that this has become a major factor pushing some individuals toward the PPP/C.
He said defections should therefore be viewed in the broader context of political opportunity, state resources and personal ambition, rather than as proof that the PNCR has collapsed.
The PNCR Leader also said some of those who joined the party during the APNU+AFC government years were not deeply grounded in the party’s ideology or history.
He said many entered politics when the coalition was in office, and some later became Members of Parliament without first being fully socialised into the PNCR’s political philosophy.
“When we came to power in 2015, a lot of new persons came to the party. Many of whom became Members of Parliament and left,” Norton said.
He argued that several of those individuals were not part of the party’s core and did not necessarily enter politics because of commitment to its mission.
“They didn’t come supporting ideology and a mission. They came for what was there at the time,” Norton said.
Norton said the party’s core supporters remain committed to a vision and ideology, and he insisted that the PNCR’s central political argument remains that the government is not serving the people of Guyana.
His comments come as the opposition continues to face questions about defections, internal unity and its ability to rebuild after recent electoral setbacks.
For Norton, however, the movement of some individuals to the PPP/C is not evidence of collapse, but part of a long-standing pattern in Guyanese politics where power and access to resources influence political behaviour.
