Opposition Leader and Chairman of A partnership For National Unity, Aubrey Norton has declared victory for his party following yesterday’s local government polls, although the party has lost at least two major seats in Georgetown.

Norton said the party has been able to increase its votes and maintain control of New Amsterdam, Linden and Georgetown, while Bartica and Mahdia are yet to be officially called since both parties emerged with the same number of seats.

The PPP has claimed “massive” victory at the polls, with party’s General Secretary announcing the party will control 66 of the country’s 80 Local Authority areas. However, Mr. Norton reminded that his party did not contest many of the local authority areas that are in the strongholds of the PPP and where the party had no chance of winning.

‘For us the Local Government Elections was a clear case of the people rejecting the PPP, the low turn out among others are indicative of that.  We also believe it is a rejection of the bad governance, the arrogance and corrupt practices of the People’s Progressive Party. But more importantly, we want to hail the consciousness of our members and supporters who showed that they are politically conscious” Norton said.

The APNU Chairman thanked those who played a role in his party’s campaign and said it was clear that commitment and hard work can bring good results in the face of optical politics and politics characterized by vote-buying.

“For us, this is a victory for the people of Guyana. The People of Guyana do not want a one-party state. The people of Guyana reject the PPP’s attempt at domination and control and so we see it as a victory not only for the APNU but for the people of Guyana. It is a victory against domination and control,” Mr. Norton said.

Now that the Local elections are done Mr. Norton said his party will continue to agitate for a clean voters list.

He has also expressed his dissatisfaction over the running of the election saying that the CEO and the Chairperson of GECOM have shown incompetence in the preparation and the running and management of the elections noting that there were avoidable hiccups in a number of areas.

“But above all, these elections manifested the fact that with organization, we can and will beat the People’s Progressive Party with whatever resources they have at their disposal and that for us is important, our country has been shown that money alone cannot win,” Norton said.

The APNU leader said his party will now work the ground in preparation for the General and Regional Elections in 2025.

Related posts:

President and Opposition Leader focus on main towns as Local Elections take place Norton encourages supporters not to be complacent and to get out early and vote Tearful Norton promises to take PNC back to the grassroots and represent all the people of Guyana Lowenfield submits report showing APNU+AFC victory on valid vote count