…AFC adamant that it must name the person

By Svetlana Marshall
THE Alliance for Change (AFC) said negotiation on the revision of the Cummingsburg Accord between itself and its coalition partner – the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)–has hit a snag over discussions on the naming of the Prime Ministerial Candidate ahead of the 2020 elections. But the APNU has since dismissed the claim, saying that the negotiation has not been stalled. 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 Presidential Candidate.

At a press conference on Thursday, at the Centre for Change, AFC Executive Member, Dominic Gaskin said a lack of consensus on the naming of the Prime Ministerial Candidate has stalled negotiation on a revised Cummingsburg Accord.

“The AFC recognises the efforts of the two parties and their respective negotiating teams and the significant progress that has been made…however, the AFC finds it unacceptable that the matter of the Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates has been repeatedly deferred,” Gaskin told reporters.

Gaskin forms part of AFC’s negotiating team. According to him, the alliance has advised the APNU that it cannot proceed with the negotiation unless and until the issue at hand is resolved.

In the presence of the AFC’s Chairman, Raphael Trotman and Vice Chairman, Catherine Hughes, Gaskin said that while the alliance remains committed to coalition politics, it will not renege on its position that it must name the Prime Ministerial Candidate ahead of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. Some things, he said, are not negotiable.
At its National Conference earlier in the year, the AFC identified its Leader Khemraj

Ramjattan as its Prime Ministerial Candidate to run alongside the APNU’s Presidential Candidate – David Granger. Gaskin said the naming of Ramjattan as the Prime Ministerial Candidate was in keeping with the Cummingsburg Accord, which he said 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,” Gaskin stated.

He said while the proposal to retain that element of the accord, which provides for the Prime Ministerial Candidate to be named by the AFC, has not been “outright rejected,” there simply has been no consensus on the matter. “For us, as I said in my statement, this is non-negotiable,” he maintained.

No collision

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.

Though stating that compromise is critical in any negotiation, Gaskin said the decision to name Ramjattan as the Prime Ministerial Candidate was made at the party’s highest decision-making forum – the national conference – and cannot be reversed.

Is the National Executive Committee prepared to ask the national conference to revise its decision, the answer is no, according to the Executive Member. “I would ask you why? We have already made a decision. We internally have not had any discussion that points us in that direction and we don’t accept that any other entity, or any other party, shall tell us, or dictate to us whom we should choose as our Prime Ministerial Candidate. We are an independent party, we have made a decision, we have made a choice, why should we revisit that discussion, why should we go back to our membership, and say, let’s have another decision, on what basis?” Gaskin reasoned.

No backpedalling
Gaskin said while the AFC would like to enter the 2020 as a coalition with the APNU it cannot backpedal on its position. “We are very committed to coalition politics, and we stated over and over again that we wish to form coalition with the APNU to contest the next elections. We have our National Executive Committee Meeting on November 2, 2019 and that four months away from the elections date that have been announced, and at that National Executive Committee Meeting we will have to make some very definitive or clear decisions on how we plan to move ahead, and how we plan to participate in the elections,” he told reporters.

Speaking directly to the party’s supporters, Gaskin said they can be assured that the AFC will uphold its principles and remain an independent force. “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 in or out of a coalition,” the Executive Member said.

Hughes, who said that the AFC was not divided on the issue, reminded that AFC remains a vibrant force 14 years after coming into existence. “It is once again important to note that no third political party in the English Speaking Caribbean started its life with the magnitude of gaining six parliamentary seats, first time around in the 2006 elections, as we did, in just a year of its existence… Further no, third party in Guyana has been consistently successful, the second time around. As you know in 2011, the Alliance for Change increased its win to seven Parliamentary Seats,” she pointed out.