Lightning rod, Opposition politician, Amanza Walton-Desir, has tendered her resignation from the People’s National Congress Reform, just as the party is finalizing its list of candidates for the upcoming elections. She has also resigned as a Member of Parliament for the APNU+AFC.
Speaking briefly with News Source this morning, Ms. Walton-Desir confirmed her resignation, while announcing that she will be hosting a press conference later to offer more details about her decision.
This morning, Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, Aubrey Norton, said he has received the letter of resignation, which has also informed that Ms. Walton-Desir has resigned as a Member of Parliament for the APNU+AFC.
He said he recently met with Walton-Desir at his office in the presence of the Administrative Head of the party’s campaign, David Hailes.
According to Mr. Norton, the meeting centered around Walton-Desir being on the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming elections and the role she would take up after the elections.
“I met Amanza, we spoke about her being on the list and she said she has to consult her people and get back to me about that. I am still to hear back from her about being on our list”, Norton told News Source.
The meeting between the two reportedly took place just over a week ago. There are reports that at the meeting, Walton-Desir inquired about the role she will be asked to play in the upcoming election campaign for the PNC led APNU.
Norton said he assured Walton-Desir that her name will be on the list of candidates and will be extracted for the National Assembly regardless of how the election goes.
“She asked if her name will be on the list and I said yes and she asked if it will be extracted for Parliament and I also said yes, and she said she will get back to me and she has not gotten back to me…and this meeting was done in the presence of Mr. Hailes”, Norton said.
The two reportedly discussed a number of other issues. There has been growing concern within the Opposition for months about Walton-Desir being sidelined by the Party Leader. However, Mr. Norton has denied those concerns.
Last week, Walton-Desir public expressed her frustration over the failure of the APNU and the AFC to reach a coalition agreement ahead of the upcoming elections, urging the two parties to get back to the negotiating table and hammer out an agreement.
News Source understands that Walton-Desir is expected to announce the formation of a new political movement today that is expected to include a number of other opposition members. It is unclear whether the movement intends to contest the upcoming elections on its own or position itself as part of a wider coalition with other political parties or groups.
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