The Alliance for Change (AFC) moments ago confirmed that negotiations on the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord between itself and its coalition partner – the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – have broken down over discussions on the naming of the Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates ahead of the 2020 elections.

Under the Cummingsburg Accord, which brought the two political parties together as a coalition in 2015, the APNU nominates the Presidential Candidate and the AFC, the Prime Ministerial Candidate but as the accord goes under review, there is a push for Prime Ministerial Candidate to be selected by the President.

AFC Executive Member, Dominic Gaskin said while the AFC is committed to coalition politics, some things are not negotiable – such as the naming of the Prime Ministerial Candidate. At its National Conference earlier in the year, the AFC identified its Leader Khemraj Ramjattan as the Prime Ministerial Candidate. Gaskin said the naming of Ramjattan as the Prime Ministerial Candidate was in keeping with the Cummingsburg Accord, which is still in effect.

“In response to questions raised by the media, the AFC maintained that the naming of the Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates by the APNU and the AFC respectively was a fundamental and non-negotiable tenet of its decision to form a coalition. This position has not changed.”

Stating clearly that the AFC has no interest in naming the Presidential Candidate, Gaskin maintains that the AFC will not budge on its position. President Granger, the Leader of the APNU, has maintained that the Accord must not collide with the Constitution. “We are not asking the Cummingsburg Accord to supersede the Constitution. We are saying that the AFC should name the Prime Ministerial Candidate and the APNU should name the Presidential Candidate. After the elections, the President appoints the Prime Minister as per the Constitution. There is no clash or collision with the Constitution in the Cummingsburg Accord, stipulating that the AFC will name the Prime Ministerial Candidate,” Gaskin said in response to the concerns raised over adherence to the Constitution.

On November 2, 2019, the AFC will hold its National Executive Committee Meeting and determine a way forward. “…The Party will deliberate and decide on its mode of participation in the upcoming elections,” the Executive Member said.

From the onset, he said: “The AFC wishes to reassure its members and supporters of its overarching commitment to its founding principles and to maintaining its independence as a political party whether it or out of a coalition.”

AFC Chairman Raphael Trotman is hopeful that the issues will soon be resolved and allow for negotiations on the Cummingsburg Accord to be continued. “I don’t see a better alternative to the coalition, compromise has to be found on both sides. We have to do what is best in the national interest,” Trotman said.