Member of Parliament (MP) Vincent Henry, who was recently voted in as Chairman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) at the expense of former Chairman and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader Aubrey Norton, is optimistic that any squabbles between the two groups could be addressed when they meet face to face.
Henry, who heads the Guyana Action Party (GAP), is expected to meet with Norton today, Thursday, July 18. It will be the first time they meet face to face, since June 6 when Henry, in an unprecedented move, was elected by the other members of the APNU coalition as Chairman, ousting Norton in the process.
In an interview with this publication, however, Henry remained focused on APNU moving forward as a coalition and readying itself to contest next year’s elections.
“We spoke one to one, more than one time. And actually, we intend to have a meeting [today]. And work our way towards having, like I mentioned before, our objective being met,” Henry explained.
The MP was optimistic that any ill feelings and bad blood could be sorted out when they meet, since they remain committed to coalition politics.
“Everything will be discussed [today]. Because it’s the first time we will be meeting face to face. And I’m certain that we will be able to sort out whatever level problems. I call them level, because they’re not major problems that are there. And we’ll be able to move forward, again, because what else can you do? The best formula is a coalition formula,” he further explained.
The other parties in attendance at that June 6 meeting in which Henry was elected APNU Chairman were: the National Front Alliance (NFA); the Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP), and the Guyana Nation Builders (GNB), whose leader Tabitha Sarabo-Halley has been elected General Secretary of APNU.
Despite being voted out of the chairmanship by the other parties in the APNU coalition, Norton has been insisting that he is still the Chairman. Following the elections, to which Norton’s party had allegedly been invited to, the PNCR had later released a statement claiming it had never received an invitation to attend the meeting.
The party had thus claimed the elections were null and void, since only the PNCR party could initiate such a meeting. However, other members of APNU had countered, saying that a letter calling the meeting was sent to Norton, via email, on June 5, 2024.
APNU had affirmed in a statement, however, that any member of the Executive Council could have requested a meeting… and that is exactly what they did, in a June 3, 2024 letter addressed to Norton and sent via email. A reminder was also sent to Norton two days later.
APNU anniversary
Meanwhile, APNU released a statement on Wednesday in recognition of its 13 years of existence which was officially marked on July 15. APNU coalesced in 2011, to contest the General and Regional Elections that year.
At the time, the parties in APNU included the PNC, widely acknowledged as the largest party; the Working People’s Alliance (WPA); the Justice For All Party (JFAP) and GAP. Since 2011, however, there have been several changes.
One of the changes were WPA’s exit from the coalition. Following the ascension of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to the seat of government in August 2020, the WPA in a letter to then APNU Chairman David Granger had accused the larger PNCR party of dictatorial tendencies toward the smaller parties in the coalition.
WPA Secretary Tacuma Ogunseye had noted that since the formation of APNU there have been an active sidelining of the smaller parties. That had caused the WPA to, on many occasions, air its grievances both internally and publicly.
He had said that throughout the life of APNU, WPA, to its detriment, had done everything within its powers to ensure the survival and success of APNU and by extension, the coalition. The accommodating positions it assumed on critical issues, which it would normally condemn, have exposed the party both internally, by party members and supporters, and externally, by its detractors, to the worst kinds of criticisms imaginable.
The WPA had requested that the names of its two nominees for Parliament and the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) seats be removed from APNU’s list. Instead of withdrawing, however, one of those nominees, Sarabo-Halley, had remained in Parliament, resigned from the WPA in August 2020 and formed the GNB, which went on to join the APNU coalition.
It was a similar story with JFAP, which withdrew from APNU that very next month. When APNU selected its parliamentary list for the 12th Parliament, the JFAP was not given a seat. The PNCR took 22 of the 31 parliamentary seats for itself.
The JFAP has had a dramatic relationship within APNU. Jaipaul Sharma, son of party founder CN Sharma, quit the JFAP and switched to the PNCR early in 2020. The very next year, Sharma switched his political allegiance – this time leaving the PNCR to form his own party, the Equal Rights and Justice Party (ERJP), which joined the APNU coalition.
In December 2022, the Alliance For Change (AFC) formally broke away from APNU.
