“Khemraj Ramjattan will be my Prime Minister,” President David Granger declared Wednesday night in Hopetown, West Coast Berbice, hours after he said he had not chosen or nominated a Prime Ministerial Candidate and would only do so until after the March 02 elections.
“Khemraj and I have signed on the dotted line,” the President declared. It was the first time that he was acknowledging that if the APNU+AFC wins the elections, he will appoint Ramjattan as his Prime Minister.
The President’s declaration at Hopetown came just a few hours after the governing Coalition partner AFC reacted strongly to the President’s assertion at an event in the morning that the Prime Ministerial Candidate will only be known after the elections.
“I have not named a Prime Ministerial Candidate but I know what I am going to do,” Granger told reporters at the Ministry of the Presidency.
“I reserve the right to choose and nominate a Prime Minister and I will nominate all ministers, including the Prime Minister, who is my chief Minister, after the elections,” Granger stated.
After a news report was carried with his statements, the AFC said the President assertion was “gratuitous and confusing to our supporters and the wider electorate.”
General Secretary of the AFC David Patterson said the statements of the President were in direct contradiction with provisions of the recently signed Revised Cummingsburg Accord which formed the basis for APNU and AFC forming a Coalition to contest the March 02 elections.
The AFC said it was well aware of the constitutional steps regarding appointments once the election results are known. However, the party said the process did not change the fundamental agreement that the AFC names the Prime Ministerial candidate and have named its Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan.
Patterson said the AFC remains fully committed to the APNU+AFC coalition agreement and “is not expecting any further confusion for the remainder of the campaign.”
