Norton Snubbed from Joint Opposition Press Conference

May 2 2025- Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has denied claims that he was invited to be part of a joint opposition press conference, led by the Alliance for Change (AFC), earlier this week.

The press conference, held at Tuschen East Bank Essequibo (EBE), sought to address issues surrounding the death of 11-year-old Adriana Young whose body was found floating a hotel pool one day after she went missing at the same location.

Several opposition parties, including the AFC, the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), and Vigilant Political Action Committee (V-PAC) among other participated in the press conference.

Norton was notably absent from the press conference, although several senior members of his People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) were present.

When asked whether he was invited, executive member of the AFC Cathy Hughes responded in the affirmative, and noted that Norton “could not make it”.

“The Leader of the Opposition and our colleagues in the APNU/PNC were invited. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it today but we are very honour to have my colleague Dawn [Hastings-Williams] and Annette [Ferguson],” she told reporters.

Quizzed further on whether a correspondence was sent to the opposition leader, Hughes answered “yes”.

However, at his weekly press conference held earlier this morning, Norton denied the claims made by Hughes.

“As far as I’m aware, we weren’t invited to any press conference. I saw the circumlocutions type of answer given by one member of the AFC but we were not invited to the press conference,” he stated.

A source in the PNCR has said that members of the party remain suspicious of efforts to undermine its leader – Norton.

Earlier this year, the PNCR and the AFC entered into talks on the possibility of forming a coalition to contest the 2025 General and Regional Elections. However, those talks collapsed after they failed to meet the April 1 deadline for an agreement.