Former PNCR Chairman leads cohort of ex-PNCR members to declare support for PPPC

In a recruitment win for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairman Shurwayne Holder, on Tuesday led a delegation of ex-PNCR figures to meet with PPPC General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and formally declare their support for that party.
Holder was joined at the meeting by former A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Parliamentarians Parliamentarians Ricky Ramsaroop and Dinish Jaiprashad, as well as current APNU Regional Councillors Ravoldo Birbal, Sheik Yaseen, Prince Holder and Gangadai Lloyd.
APNU is the umbrella coalition of the PNCR. This latest exodus serves as major blow to the PNCR ahead of the Local Government Elections (LGE) which are expected to be held later this year.
According to a statement from the PPPC the politicians were there to throw their support behind the PPPC.
“During the meeting, the group expressed to the General Secretary a desire to be associated with the People’s Progressive Party and to contribute meaningfully to Guyana’s ongoing development, while serving the interests of the Guyanese people, as the country advances along an unprecedented path of economic growth and modernisation,” the statement said.
“The group praised the Party’s stewardship of the economy, inclusive approach to governance, and the scale of transformation taking place across the country. They noted that the PPP has demonstrated the leadership, capacity and technical expertise required to effectively manage the country, sustain growth, and improve the welfare of every Guyanese, regardless of race, religion, or any other differentiating factor.”
According to the statement the group finds the PPPC openness as welcoming and contrasted the current political atmosphere with their previous experiences.
“They observed that the Party’s manifesto outlines plans that have been, and continue to be, vigorously pursued, resulting in tangible improvements in the lives of Guyanese and communities across the country,” the statement said.
The group was welcomed with open arms by the GS, with Dr. Jagdeo indicating that the PPP is a Party of inclusion that works for all Guyanese, and therefore welcomed the interest expressed by the group.
“The PPP reaffirms that the Party’s focus remains on strengthening national cohesion, expanding opportunities for citizens, and ensuring that the benefits of development reach all Guyanese,”
A longstanding executive of the PNCR, and the APNU, Holder had resigned from the PNCR last September, shortly after Guyana’s September 1, 2025 General and Regional Elections (GRE), where the PNCR’s APNU party tumble from grace with the electorate and only managed to amass 12 seats in the 65 seat National Assembly.
Considered a close ally of the PNCR current Leader Aubrey Norton, Holder first became a member of the PNCR executive in 2018. He was elected to the CEC during the party’s 21st Biennial Delegates Congress held that year.
At the subsequent Biennial Congress in 2021 Holder was elected to the Chairmanship, a position he was re-elected to in 2024 when the party’s election was rife with accusations of lack of transparency, accountability and fairness.
Meanwhile, Ramsaroop started out as an executive with the APNU former coalition partner the Alliance for Change (AFC), serving as a former Vice Chair of that party. He served in parliament from 2015 as a member of the APNU+AFC coalition. He returned as a parliamentarian in 2020, but was not selected when the APNU won 12 seats in the 2025 elections. The AFC failed to gain any seats in the National Assembly in the 2025 elections.
The mass exodus from the PNCR party is parcel to a sustained year on year brain drain from the PNCR that has taken place since the party came under the leadership of current Leader, Aubrey Norton. Holder’s exit was accompanied by the departure of APNU City Councillor, Robert Maison, and preceded by the departure of PNCR Executive, Mervyn Williams, who strikingly made his resignation announcement during a live airing of the party’s weekly programme “Nation Watch”, which he hosted for a number of years.
The thinning of the herd has included the resignation of many longstanding stalwarts including former General Secretary the late Amna Ally, who resigned in 2025 shortly before her death.
Many criticised Norton for not attending Ally’s funeral.
Former Georgetown Mayor, Patricia Chase Green, and City Councillor Trichria Richards, resigned in 2023 ahead of the Local Government Elections that year. They both debut as members of the PPPC. Longstanding party member Ronald Backer, and party Treasurer Fiaaz Mursaline, resigned in 2022.
Youth activists Thandi McAllister and Brian Smith, resigned in 2021. Former General Secretaries Geeta Chandan-Edmond, and Dawn Hastings-Williams resigned those positions in 2022 and 2024 respectively.
Longstanding party member Ronald Backer, and party Treasurer Fiaaz Mursaline, resigned in 2022.
Youth activists Thandi McAllister and Brian Smith, resigned in 2021. Former General Secretaries Geeta Chandan-Edmond, and Dawn Hastings-Williams resigned those positions in 2022 and 2024 respectively.
Region 10 Executives, and former Parliamentarian Jermaine Figueira, and Vanessa Kissoon, both also resigned in 2025, as did Former Executives and Parliamentarians James Bond, Amanza Walton-Desir, Natasha Singh Lewis.
Former Region Four Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram and Vice-Chairman Samuel Sandy also resigned in 2025, where they both endorsed the PPPC.
McAllister, Chandan-Edmond, Figueira, and Bond have all also crossed the floor and joined the PPPC. Hastings-Williams and Natasha Singh-Lewis have joined the United States sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed’s We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, which won 16 seats in Parliament in the September 1 elections, and Walton-Desir has formed her own party, the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) which won a single seat at the GRE.