Longstanding PNCR Executive resigns during party’s live programme

Longstanding member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) – the largest party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Coalition, Mervyn Williams, has resigned from the party – an announcement he made during a live programme. Williams was the host of Nation Watch, a political talk show which is usually streamed live on the PNC/R’s Facebook page. During the latest live programme on Sunday morning, Williams announced his resignation.
“I’ve had a good run and I, with a heavy heart, announced my resignation from the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the People’s National Congress Reform,” he declared. At the time of what is being described as a dramatic announcement, Williams was joined on air by this week’s guest, Terrence Campbell, who will be the minority APNU Opposition’s lead parliamentarian in the National Assembly.
Williams, who had secured the second highest number of votes at the last Biennial Congress in order to be elected to serve one the PNC/R’s CEC, cited “unfortunate occurrences” for his decision. “Forgive me for not saying this before, but I now announce regrettably my resignation from the People’s National Congress Reform. It was a difficult decision, but the circumstances dictate that I take this decision. It was one that I contemplated in a run-up to September 1, in fact, but my duty, commitment, and loyalty to my party did not allow me to do that. And I held my hand, and there were unfortunate occurrences after September 1 that in fact, one of those two occurrences’ pre-dates September 1, but came to my attention after. I have, in regard to those sets of circumstances and recognising the need for the party to go through its rebuilding process, [resigned],” Williams stated.

Losing members
This resignation by Williams, who previously served as an APNU parliamentarian in the last National Assembly, comes as the party continues to bleed scores of its longstanding members – many of which had cited issues with the PNC/R leadership. In fact, the Norton-led party churned out a dismal performance at the recently held September 1 General and Regional Elections during which the PNC-led APNU lost many of this traditional stronghold areas including Linden’s Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
The party lost Region 10 as well as Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) to newcomer the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), led by United States (US)-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed. The WIN party has ousted the PNC-led APNU as the main parliamentary opposition having secured 16 seats. APNU only managed to pick up 12 seats in the 65-member National Assembly.
The remaining 36 seats will be occupied by the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) which won the 2025 elections by a landslide; the party secured 242,498 votes. Meanwhile, former APNU parliamentarian Amanza Walton-Desir’s breakaway party called Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) won one seat and she will be occupying that bench in the National Assembly. In the last parliament, the APNU and its former Coalition partner, the Alliance For Change (AFC) had held 31 seats in the National Assembly, forming the main parliamentary opposition. Of these, the AFC itself occupied 9 of those seats, while the remaining 22 were held by APNU politicians. PNCR and APNU Leader Aubrey Norton on Friday last confirmed that he will not be returning to parliament but will remain at the helm of the party. “I will work to continue the rebuilding of the party,” he said at a press conference. “I will preside over the party and ensure that I put the mechanism in place so that by the time we arrive at the next elections, we are well structured, we will be ready and the new blood in the party will take over the party. I hope that is an indication that I have no intention of running for the presidency in the future,” added Norton, who ran as the party’s Presidential Candidate in this year’s elections. The results of the September 1, 2025 polls show that APNU only secured 12 seats in the National Assembly – a significant decline, which has resulted in the party no longer holding the title as the main parliamentary opposition.
The main parliamentary opposition will now be the WIN party which picked up 16 seats. WIN’s founder and leader, US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, has indicated that he will take up the constitutional position of Opposition Leader. Reflecting on the party’s poor performance at the recent polls, Norton said the APNU is conducting a review but indicated that the findings may not be made public. However, he indicated that among other things, APNU will have to review how it operates in the political landscape when new parties emerge.
“In the 1957 elections we did well, then came the 1961 elections in which the United Force emerged as a new party and we lost seats to them. In 2006, the AFC came as a new party and we lost seats to them again. In 2025, WIN came as a new party and we lost seats to them. I think we have to review how we operate with new parties…to understand the phenomenon of why when new parties emerge, our support base seems to go in another direction,” Norton said.