APNU’s Nicolette Henry has resigned as Member of Parliament (MP) from the National Assembly – paving the way for the PNC’s Leader Aubrey Norton to take up a seat on the Opposition’s benches and ultimately be selected as the country’s Opposition Leader.
“This is my final presentation in this Honourable House,” Henry said today during her contributions to the 2022 Budget Debates ongoing at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
Henry served as Education Minister under the former APNU+AFC Government.
It was only last week that, amid mounting pressure from within the party, Joseph Harmon resigned as Opposition Leader, making way for Norton to take up that role. Harmon has subsequently not been physically present at sittings of the National Assembly.
Norton, who secured a landslide victory at the party’s internal Congress in December 2021, had disclosed previously that the PNCR Central Executive Committee (CEC) had decided that he should also hold the post of Leader of the Opposition.
Harmon, who lost his bid for the PNCR leadership position to Norton, had been adamant that he should remain in the position, which was given to him by former PNCR Leader David Granger. Harmon has also not been re-elected to the party’s Central Executive Committee – its highest decision-making body.
Harmon’s resignation had been preceded by a series of meetings over the past two weeks.
In a brief statement after his announced resignation, the PNC expressed gratitude to Harmon, and thanked him for his service. The party had also said it would address the issue of filling the position of Leader of the Opposition with its coalition partners in the shortest possible time.
Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman, who is the representative of the joinder list which comprises A New and United Guyana (ANUG), the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) and The New Movement (TNM), has indicated that he would not be participating in that process to elect the new Leader of the Opposition.
Harmon’s resignation as Opposition Leader came one day after he also stepped down as General Secretary of the APNU, while Granger has resigned as the party’s Chairman. The APNU Chairmanship has since been taken up by Norton.
