Guyana Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton says no-confidence motion against him invalid

Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in Guyana, Aubrey Norton says a no-confidence motion moved against him has no validity as the party’s Constitution makes no provision for that.

He was adamant that a party leader can only be removed by a special congress.

The Florida Chapter of the PNCR on Sunday moved the no-confidence motion against Norton, claiming that in the one year since his election, he had failed to unite the party and mobilize key political events, among other things.

“The party’s image has been severely tarnished and a large number of our members, supporters, and sympathizers have lost interest in this party. The business community from whom we got significant support has been withholding that support,” stated the motion that was moved by party members Larry London and John Yates and submitted to the North American PNC Group and forwarded to the party’s Central Executive Committee.

However, Norton told the local media that was not the way to go about removing the party leader.

“Our Constitution doesn’t provide for a no-confidence motion in the leader. Our Constitution provides for, if you want, you can demand special congress. To do that you have to get two-thirds of the membership to sign and agree to that and then you can proceed to have a special congress where they would have an election,” he said.

The Opposition Leader added that the party group in Florida never met and “so it does appear to me that it is a public relations stunt”.

London was quoted by Demerara Waves Online News as acknowledging the lack of a meeting but he said the motion was circulated among 32 members before it was dispatched.

“We round robin the members. It wasn’t a formal meeting. The members of this group are spread all over South Florida and some are outside of South Florida, so we didn’t have a formal meeting,” he said.

CMC/