By Devina Samaroo
Leader of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger Wednesday said he is still consulting internally on the issue of contesting the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) with the Alliance For Change (AFC).
“I have to consult with five other parties and that consultation process has started and we have not engaged the AFC as yet. But we are aware of the comments made in the media about working together for Local Government Elections and we are still consulting with our partners to ensure that we come up with a way forward,” President Granger told reporters on the sidelines of an event at State House this morning.
The Guyanese Head-of-State confirmed that he received a letter from his coalition counterpart, the Alliance For Change (AFC) on the issue of LGE.
Last week, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan disclosed that the Party dispatched a letter to Mr Granger indicating its interest in contesting the LGE jointly. Ramjattan also explained that the APNU and AFC would have to “trash out a number of issues” if they agree to vie as a single unit against other political parties at the polls.
The APNU Leader explained that all parties that make up the APNU are committed to coalition politics but when it comes to partnering with AFC at the local government level, there are several matters that need to be addressed.
“What I am happy to say is that all six partners are committed to coalition politics. We expect that this is the face we will present to the electorate at [LGE] later this year. That is our objective and so it is just a matter of working out the modalities,” the APNU Leader stated.
The five parties include the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Justice For All Party (JFAP), Guyana Action Party (GAP), National Front Alliance (NFA).
AFC’s decision to contest LGE with the APNU goes against internal calls for the Party to run the race alone. AFC Leader Raphael Trotman told media operatives at a press conference in January 2018 that there is an “overwhelming call” from within for the Party to go solo at the polls. But following a high-level meeting in February 2018, the AFC decided to team up with the APNU.
The Cummingsburg Accord – which outlines the shared governance structure between the two political parties – does not address the role of its members at LGE. Despite the absence of an arrangement in this regard, APNU and AFC contested as one at the last LGE in March 2016.
However, the AFC subsequently raised a number of concerns after the polls, including issues of not being adequately represented at the local government level.
At the last municipal elections, the APNU captured both positions of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Georgetown – a change from the previous years where AFC would have copped the second top spot.
Ramjattan has since labelled this development as “unfortunate” and noted that it is one of the issues “bothering” the AFC.
The AFC was desirous of having a review of the Cummingsburg Accord and has publicly announced that it spoke to the APNU about its aspiration. The AFC wanted this review done before its third anniversary with APNU which was on February 14, 2018, but this was never done.
