APNU leadership squabble: Norton elected APNU Chairman as Granger resigns

– Harmon to resign as General Secretary in 7 days
– Granger continues as Representative of List

In a major power shift within the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, People’s National Congress (PNC) Leader Aubrey Norton has been elected Chairman of APNU following his predecessor David Granger’s resignation with immediate effect.

According to a statement from Congress Place, a meeting occurred on Tuesday between Granger, Norton and APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon. Also attending the meeting were Jaipaul Sharma, leader of Equal Rights and Justice Party, Vincent Henry of the Guyana Action Party, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley of the Guyana Nation Builders and Keith Scott of the National Front Alliance.
At the meeting, both Granger and Harmon formally communicated their decision to step down from their respective positions. While Granger’s resignation was accepted with immediate effect, the APNU Executive requested Harmon to stay on for at least 7 days to ensure the smooth transition to a new General Secretary.
In the wake of Granger’s resignation, Norton was elected as APNU Chairman. It is unclear what the process will be to fill the position of General Secretary once Harmon finally steps down. According to the party, “Members of the Executive thanked the outgoing Chair and General Secretary for their role in advancing the idea of the APNU to what it is today.”

On Monday, Granger and Harmon had met with AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan. Also attending the meeting were Chairman of the AFC Raphael Trotman; Vice Chair of the AFC Catherine Hughes and General Secretary of the AFC, David Patterson.
It was at this meeting that it was first communicated that Granger would be willing to step down as APNU Chairman. However, there is still no word on Granger’s status as Representative of the List of Candidates for APNU.
Despite Norton being backed by the PNCR Executive for the position of Representative of the List and Opposition Leader, neither Granger nor Harmon have displayed any willingness to give up those posts.
Harmon, who lost his bid for the PNCR leadership to Norton, has since insisted that he should remain Opposition Leader. Harmon was also not re-elected to the PNC’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) – the highest decision-making body of the party.
The APNU has already issued a statement noting that “the members of A Partnership for National Unity have had no reason to question the abilities of David Granger and Khemraj Ramjattan as Head and Deputy Head of the List of the APNU/AFC, we have had no reason to question the leadership of Joseph Harmon as Leader of the Opposition and we have had no reasons to question the abilities of any Member of Parliament.
While we are yet to meet with the new PNCR Leader Mr Aubrey Norton, we are expecting to have a good working relationship with him as we’ve had with former President David Granger.”
Ramjattan has meanwhile previously made it clear that the established procedures must be followed before the Leader of the Opposition or Representative of the List of the APNU/AFC coalition can be changed.