– Harmon says parties will meet soon to discuss Cummingsburg Accord, LGE

The top brass of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) will meet to iron out existing issues in the Cummingsburg Accord including those surrounding the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).

The decisions coming out of that and future meetings on the Cummingsburg Accord and Local Government Elections are not likely to negatively affect the “congeniality” that currently exists between the coalition partners, according to APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon who described the issues as “minor.”

When AFC held its National Executive Committee Meeting for 2018 at the Georgetown Club on Labour Day, the Leader Raphael Trotman reported that on April 30 he received a response to the AFC letter dated February 26, 2018 which was sent to the APNU Leader and President of Guyana, David Granger regarding the upcoming Local Government Elections.

The AFC letter outlined a number of matters, including the issue of the approach to Local Government Elections, and the response from the APNU Leader proposed a certain course of action. On the sideline of the opening ceremony of a Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) workshop which was organised in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Guyana, Harmon disclosed that President Granger in his letter to the AFC Leader extended an invitation to meet and discuss issues surrounding the Cummingsburg Accord, which brought together APNU and AFC as a coalition to contest the May 2015 Elections, and the Local Government Elections. “The letter invited the AFC to discuss the matters in relation to the Cummingsburg Accord. As you are aware this is a matter that was raised sometime before and the letter basically invites them to discuss the issues in relation to the Cummingsburg Accord,” the APNU General Secretary said.

AFC OUTLINES POSITION ON LGE

In a statement of its own Thursday evening, the AFC said its Leader Raphael Trotman earlier in the day wrote to Leader of A Partnership for National Unity President David Granger in response to His Excellency’s letter of April 30, 2018. His Excellency’s letter was in response to Mr. Trotman’s letter of February 26, in which the AFC Leader detailed issues of concern to the party and sought for the two parties to engage in discussions on these and other matters.

“Mr. Trotman’s May 3 letter was mandated by the party’s National Executive Committee which met on May 1.  Mr. Trotman outlined to His Excellency that the AFC proposes a meeting of the two parties on Monday, May 7 with a view to commence discussions on the path to Local Government Elections. The AFC has named its team for these discussions. The team comprises David Patterson, Michael Carrington, Marlon Williams and Dr. Vincent Adams,” the ASFC statement added.

According to the AFC its C NEC has stipulated that the party will allow additional time for the two parties to have a definitive written agreement in the form of a Local Government Elections Accord. The NEC also took a decision for all party groups to fully activate its campaign preparations protocols and this will commence in earnest. In addition to these matters, Mr. Trotman’s letter to His Excellency also details some AFC positions for negotiation of the LGE Accord.

On the third anniversary of the Cummingsburg Accord on February 14, 2018, President Granger had said that the AFC had several options – proceed with the accord as it is, allow it to expire at 2020 or make request for a meeting. He noted that a review was not compulsory. However, Trotman, on the same day, had underscored the importance of having the accord reviewed in its third year of existence. Trotman said while he would like to see the Accord continue, it should also be strengthened following a review process among the parties involved. “As we begin to go into the second historic Local Government Elections in this country in a few months, historic because this government was able to restore Local Government Elections after two decades of the absence of them, one of the glaring absences in the accord is the fact that the specifics for Local Government Elections are not taken care of,” the AFC Leader had explained.

It was noted that at the time of signing the accord, the focus was on General and Regional Elections and not Local Government Elections.

On Thursday, Harmon also disclosed that the upcoming Local Government Elections will form part of the discussions when the leaders meet. While both parties have long signaled their willingness to contest the upcoming Local Government Elections as a coalition, AFC, following the holding of the historic March 18, 2018 expressed concerned about the number of seats it received at the level of the Town Councils and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).

“The issues that are there are minor issues of timing, and perceptions, and things like that. I don’t believe that there are so serious as to affect the congeniality which exists between our two parties,” he posited. “We have issues in relation to the number of seats that people get in relation to the Local Government Elections because there was no formula which had been established under the Cummingsburg Accord to determine that, and these are some of the issues I believe we have to discuss,” he further added.

It is unclear how soon the leaders will meet but according to Harmon, the APNU is all set. In a statement on Thursday, AFC said that it has mandated its Leader to respond to President Granger in a prescribed manner. Trotman was expected to respond to the President on Thursday.