“Laughable” that Norton thinks PNC/ APNU/AFC would win next election – Jagdeo

…says “any act of violence will be met with the full force of the law”

It is delusional and laughable that Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton believes the Peoples National Congress-led A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change grouping (PNC/APNU/AFC) would win the next General and Regional Elections.
General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, made this remark when addressing a press conference on Thursday.
In responding to a number of positions delivered by Norton during a recent rally at the Burnham Court in Georgetown, where he hinted at some policies of a new PNC/APNU/ AFC Government, Jagdeo said:
“He says they’re going to win the elections… That’s laughable, that’s delusional.”
Jagdeo noted that Norton, at the rally, had threatened to send hundreds of people on the breadline. In one instance, Jagdeo outlined, Norton said all PPP supporters would be fired from the Public Service.
“We know that it’s difficult for Norton to hide his true feelings, and sometimes they come out in unguarded moments,” Jagdeo posited. He noted that the PPP’s position is the complete opposite.

“We believe, contrary to what Norton believes in, that all the people of this country deserve an opportunity [for prosperity]… We will work to ensure that every child; every person, regardless of their race, their religious, their gender or their politics; can have that opportunity… We will never use the litmus test of politics in recruiting people in the Public Service,” Jagdeo said.
Meanwhile, the PPP General Secretary highlighted that during his poorly-attended rally, Norton had also threatened to quash the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programme, which is benefiting thousands of people across the country.
“So, under Norton, you will not get a scholarship…he has a problem with the part-time workers too…he will terminate the 15,000 part-time workers… No doubt, he will terminate back again the 2500 CSOs in the Amerindian communities too, that they terminated in the past, because he is on a policy of terminating people,” Jagdeo contended.

PNC’s track record of violence
The PPP General Secretary also responded to Norton’s insinuations that the PPP would behave violently, and would refuse to demit office if they lose at the 2025 polls.
He pointed out that history has shown the PNC has a track record of violence and attempting to steal elections.
“Look at 2015: there was no violence when it was declared the PPP lost; the transition took place,” Jagdeo reminded.
He contended that almost every time the PNC have lost an election, they have resorted to rhetoric and violence, with the most recent being in 2020. Against this backdrop, Jagdeo, Vice President of Guyana, warned that “any act of violence will be met with the full force of the law.”
Nevertheless, Jagdeo expressed that Norton’s talks of violence were probably “rhetoric at his rally to whip up people”.
At the 2020 polls, the PPP/Civic won the presidency with a commanding 233,336 votes, a remarkable lead of 15,416 over its nearest political rival, the APNU/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.