People’s National Congress (PNC) leader and Presidential Candidate of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Aubrey Norton, on Friday said his APNU colleague Ganesh Mahipaul is poised to become Guyana’s Vice President, should the party win the September 1, 2025, General and Regional Elections.
Mr. Norton spoke about the party’s decision to name Juretha Fernandes as the Prime Ministerial candidate at a press conference on Friday. In so doing, he addressed concerns about Mahipaul being sidelined, as he was viewed as a frontrunner for the position.
“I spoke with all the persons in the APNU… we generally agreed that we needed Juretha Fernandes.
“She has the intellect, she is a woman, she is from the indigenous community, and in contact with the indigenous community, and we believe that she is qualified to be Prime Minister,” Norton explained.
Ganesh is out as Juretha tapped to be PM candidate for APNU
He also said Mahipaul was involved in these discussions and opined that his colleague understood that choosing Fernandes as PM candidate made better political sense. However, Norton said Mahipaul will play a key role in the campaign ahead of the elections and can be Vice President.
“… we intend to have three main faces of the campaign: myself as leader, Juretha Fernandes as Prime Minister, and Ganesh Mahipaul as… possible Vice President in the next government,” Norton told reporters.
Fernandes, who has been part of the Alliance For Change (AFC), defected to APNU amid the AFC’s failure to re-enter a coalition agreement with APNU. Two other AFC colleagues, Sherod Duncan and Deonarine Ramsaroop, joined her in crossing parties.
Norton said APNU remains open to a coalition dialogue but will not renege on the decision to have Fernandes as the PM candidate, even though the AFC, in a scaled-back coalition proposal, has said it will accept Norton as the Presidential candidate and wants to name the PM candidate. Only if Juretha wishes to step aside for another candidate will APNU agree to a PM candidate named by the AFC, Norton said.
AFC’s scaled-back coalition proposal rejected by APNU
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