Norton says APNU still interested in coalition talks but AFC’s Nigel says ‘we have moved on’

Even though Aubrey Norton says A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) remains open to returning to a coalition with the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes on Friday said the AFC has moved on and is focused on preparing for the upcoming elections.

“I think the prospects of anything positive coming out from further engagements, the prospects are marginal. We have moved on, and we are heading straight to the election as I am sure APNU is,” Hughes, the leader and Presidential candidate of the AFC, said on Friday.

Earlier Friday, Norton expressed some willingness to still engage in dialogue with the party even though he believed the AFC’s earlier coalition proposals had some “impossible suggestions.”

“We are willing to continue discussions,” Norton said on Friday.

APNU and AFC held government office between 2015 and 2020 as a coalition; they had been engaged in talks to revive the alliance ahead of this year’s general elections, but those discussions collapsed dramatically. Just this week, Juretha Fernandes parted ways with the AFC and has been named APNU’s Prime Ministerial candidate; her AFC colleagues Sherod Duncan and Deonarine Ramsaroop followed. The trio was expelled from the AFC subsequently.

A major stumbling block in the earlier discussions was the matter of a presidential candidate for the possible coalition. The AFC has also been pushing for a “consensus candidate,” that is, someone seen as more electable than Mr. Norton. Last week, Hughes clarified that the AFC has not demanded that it be given the Presidential candidate spot in a possible coalition with APNU, but maintained that the AFC wants the consensus candidate instead of Norton Norton.