‘If AFC can breach their constitution, what will they do with Guyana’s Constitution?’ – Ricky Ramsaroop

Former Vice Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and Member of Parliament Ricky Ramsaroop has suggested that the party cannot be expected to abide by Guyana’s Constitution if it is to be elected to office.

Ramsaroop, along with Sherod Duncan and Juretha Fernandes, broke ranks with the AFC last week in associating themselves with the Aubrey Norton-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to contest the September 1, 2025 general and regional elections.

Fernandes has already been named the Prime Ministerial candidate for APNU and the AFC moved to cancel their membership, saying that by aligning themselves with APNU, they voluntarily cut ties with the AFC.

But Ramsaroop and the others are claiming that it is only the National Executive Council (NEC) and not the leadership of the party that has the power to remove them.

Article 5(7) of the AFC’s Constitution states that “The National Executive may expel from the Party any person who while being a member, retains or accepts membership in another political party or movement, provided that in every case any such person shall be given one month within which to resign either from the AFC Party or from the other party or movement.”

It is this aspect of the constitution by which Ramsaroop and the others say they are still members of the AFC and the decision to expel them reflects the way the AFC leadership has treated them.

“If they can breach their own constitution, what will they do with Guyana Constitution?” Ramsaroop questioned in the comment section of an online news report on the decision by the AFC to expel them from the party.

The three were among several young people in the AFC who had to make way for the return of an older cohort led by Nigel Hughes who had resigned from the party twice in the past.

Duncan, in particular, lost the top leadership position to Hughes under questionable circumstances at the last AFC Congress, which included Hughes’ nomination from a group party members believed was defunct.

On Sunday, Hughes admitted on televised show ‘Caribbean Tea’ that the AFC does not wield the same level of political support it did in 2015 when it was first elected to government through a coalition with the APNU.

“No, the AFC is not of the same strength it was in 2015,” he said, in response to a question posed by a journalist.