Dear Editor,
Reports in the print media suggest that there has been a power struggle in the PNCR. Critics say the party’s leader, Mr. Aubrey Norton, is still grounded in street politics, and could not rise to create a national multiethnic party as well as produce an alternative development strategy for the country.
What role policy formulation and analysis plays in the internal election process of any political party, including the PNCR, is difficult to determine. What is compelling is that leadership style, vision, and charisma are the dominant factors in voting preference.
But what we do know also is that critics would not determine the leader of the PNCR; rather, it is the PNCR delegates who have that privilege.
Mr. Roysdale Forde had signalled his leadership ambition since last year, when he joined with other PNCR+AFC members to invite a 14-member US delegation of Legislators on a “fact finding” mission to inquiry into allegations of racial discrimination against Afro-Guyanese. He chaperoned the delegation to a few Afro-Guyanese communities in Guyana in the expectation to also stamp his authenticity on those communities.
Mr. Forde believes that his close association with that non-US Government delegation would give him much political traction, especially among those segments of the population that are opposed to the PPPC Government. Additionally, he had been writing letters in the press to enhance his political credentials. His announcement that he would be running for the PNCR leadership is not surprising. That was predictable.
We have also learnt that Mr. Ganesh Mahipal has expressed an interest in the race for the PNCR party top spot. An alternative view is that Mr. Mahipal has joined the race to pull votes away from Mr. Norton, and thus make his (Mr. Norton) run for leadership more problematic.
Whatever the manoeuvres at the PNCR Parliamentary level, it is the regional delegates who would determine the person to lead the party into the 2025 election. And here is where Norton’s strength lies. Neither Mr. Forde nor Mr. Mahipal would be able to muster as many votes as Mr. Norton from the regional delegates. It is the regional votes that would give Norton a distinct electoral advantage.
Norton has gone further by subtly suggesting that his two challengers (Mr. Forde and Mr. Mahipal) might be afflicted with integrity concerns, while Mr. Norton thinks that he is beyond reproach in this regard. The suggestion by a few PNCR supporters that Ms. Amanza Walton-Desir and Ms. Cathy Hughes should also run for the leadership post in the name of diversity would fall into the same category as that of Mr. Forde and Mr. Mahipal.
What role morality plays in politics is difficult to determine. Nevertheless, it is assumed that the educated and well informed would be swayed by claims of morality.
I have not done an opinion poll, but have analyzed anecdotal evidence, newspapers, and social media comments as well as focused interviews, and conclude that Mr. Norton will be re-elected PNCR party leader. If Mr. Norton could have knocked out the most powerful man in the PNCR-led coalition government, Mr. Joseph Harmon, it stands to logic that he would prevail over less credentialed candidates.
Yes! Mr. Aubrey Norton is projected to return as PNCR Leader.
Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh
