The rise and fall of Aubrey Norton
Nov 25, 2022 --- Source --- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...ll-of-aubrey-norton/
Kaieteur News – The consensus of persons who are not supportive of the PNC is that its current leader, Aubrey Norton has failed to make the transition from street politics to boardroom deportment.
It is a classic mode in politics. You start on the streets with extremist actions but when you enter parliament or government, you distance yourself from your pugilistic past. The transformation is theoretical, pragmatic and commonsensical. When you are not the leader it is easy to use street violence to strengthen your party. You are not the focus of society because you are not the leader. You do not need to liaison or dialogue with various sectors of society; that is the task of the leader.
When you become the leader, then language, appearance and rhetoric have to change for two fundamental reasons. One is that you have taken your place in the pantheon of society’s leaders and you are now the focus of the country.
Secondly, your responsibility is now getting people and money to preserve your party. It means you have to dialogue with the various social dimension of your country. That was not your concern when you were on the streets fighting the party’s battles.
The explanation why street fighters do not make successful leaders that win broad appeal is because they never believe they can become numero uno in their organisation so they become a fixture on the streets. People like Robert Corbin, Aubrey Norton, James Bond never believe they would become the leader of the PNC. Even after they graduated from the YSM to the senior party, these names never thought that one day they would lead their party. The possibility was too distant for them.
Then it happened to Robert Corbin. On becoming the leader of the PNC, Corbin left his past behind. He remains one of the most accommodating opposition leaders in Guyana’s history. Gerry Gouveia in describing on the Gildarie-Freddie Kissoon Show how Norton cannot move off the streets, contrasted Norton with Corbin. Gouveia revealed a fact about Corbin that was never publicised. He said PNC supporters were planning violence after the PNC’s loss in the 2006 election. He described how a delegation from the Private Sector Commission went to Congress Place to see Corbin in an ambience pregnant with violence. He said people in the compound were clamouring for “mo fyaah/slo fyaah.” Corbin listened, was accommodating and Georgetown was spared.
In the discussion to form big tent politics with all the opposition parties during the reign of the PPP, Corbin was the most willing voice to compromise. All the actors involved in that event, from Ravi Dev to Keith Scott (the brother-in-law of Walter Rodney) have said that Corbin was eager for a solution and was not recalcitrant. Corbin agreed for the PNC to be subsumed under APNU and through this initiative, the PNC returned to power in 2015.
Norton has not learnt from the experience of Corbin and others like him from around the world. In France, Marion Le Pen of the extreme right wing outfit National Front started her career as a semi-fascist. When she succeeded her father as leader, she underwent a transformation.
She toned down considerably and even changed the name from National Front to National Union. Her exit from the streets and entry into the boardroom has widened her appeal to French voters considerably so that today, the National Union is a huge force in French politics.
Norton stayed on the streets when Desmond Hoyte expelled him from the seat of the General Secretary. Norton stayed on the street when a gargantuan dispute arose between him and Corbin. Never realising that he would one day become leader, he has comforted himself inside his niche – the street.
Norton is a lonely man waiting for the Shakespearian knives that he knows will come. Waiting for Brutus that he knows exist in his midst. Because he has failed to make the transition from bully boy to diplomat, his failure has galvanised young turks and others to plan for his removal.
If he stays as leader and contest the 2025 general election, he will find it impossible to raise funds. The Creole middle class and African entrepreneurs will not fund Norton.
They are in fact, planning to birth another party that will compete with the PNC. Bobby Veira, a veteran PNCite, has formed his own party to contest local government elections. If the PNC contests in 2025, it will lose and Norton is gone. If the PNC abstains, then the loss of a PNC presence in Guyana with a ubiquitous Irfaan Ali will galvanise his colleagues to seek leadership change. Aubrey Norton is living on borrowed time.
(The views expressed in this articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)