FOLLOWING the announcement of the resignation of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Africo Selman over the weekend, wherein she cited abuses meted out to her by Opposition Chief Whip, Amna Ally and the lack of redress offered to her by the executives of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), including General Secretary, Oscar Clarke, a prominent member of the Opposition has launched an attack against her.Using Facebook to launch his attack, Jinnah Rahman, in a post over the weekend, described Selman as “a former back-bencher of the PNC, (who) was never seen to be someone who had an independent mind.” He further questioned her loyalty to the Opposition, and accused her of planning to betray the Opposition.

He said: “The question is: was she expected to betray the Opposition and vote against the “No Confidence vote”, orchestrated by the AFC? No one knew her true motive, but her recent association with the Ramotar leadership links her to rumours that she might have voted against the “No confidence Vote.”

Rahman continued his personal attack by stating: “Ms. Selman – from my vantage point – seems to be someone who was placed in Parliament because of whom she associated with in the PNC… Africo Selman would not have been someone who would have been in the next Parliament….The Public must expect more “good-for-nothing” individuals who have sat in important positions – but have not served the people – only there to collect a salary and enjoy the privileges – to openly change sides.”

The questions being asked are: Do the views shared by Rahman on his Facebook page reflect the general view of the leadership of the APNU/AFC alliance? How many other APNU Members from the Tenth Parliament will be losing their seats? How many of them are considered “good-for-nothing” individuals who have sat in important positions”? And have the resignations from the Opposition benches during the Tenth Parliament reflected the Opposition ridding itself of some of these “good-for-nothing” individuals?

Selman’s resignation was described by Rahman as another member lost to the ruling PPP/C, even though Selman has not indicated any intention to campaign for any party in the run-up to the May 11 elections.

Her resignation, however, seems to reflect the expected fallout resulting from the agreement signed between the AFC and the APNU. The agreement guarantees the AFC 40 percent of the seats in the National Assembly after the elections.

Over the weekend, on the radio programme “Hard Talk”, APNU Member of Parliament in the Tenth Parliament, James Bond, stopped short of acknowledging that his seat may also be in jeopardy come May 11. Responding to prompting that he may lose his seat because of the agreement, he said: “The reason for coming together was not for post.”

With elections 10 weeks away and the statement by Rahman being placed in the public domain, it is expected that more APNU members will be casualties of the APNU/AFC alliance agreement.