JUST over a month into the Valentine’s Day marriage of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), and already the parties seem to be at odds on key issues.Evidence of trouble in the camp is Coalition Leader David Granger’s strange disclosure recently that he can only speak for his faction of the alliance, this being APNU.

He this week told the business community at an event hosted by the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA): “Today, I can’t speak on behalf of the Coalition, because the Coalition has not yet merged the two policies; the policies of the APNU and the AFC. Today I speak only for the Partnership and for myself.”
This coming from Granger is somewhat unusual, given that just last weekend, the Coalition presented a united front for its Linden rally, announcing the proposed implementation of several planned initiatives, should they succeed in being elected to office at the upcoming General Elections.
This highlights the fact that the Coalition is largely dominated by the APNU’s agenda, and does not necessarily reflect the agenda of the minority AFC, which begs the question: Can the Coalition be trusted, once the elections are over? It also raises the issue of whether the Coalition would include AFC’s agenda if elected, or is just using the AFC to attract voters.
Several opinions have surfaced since the announcement of the Coalition about its sustainability in light of past experience with the PNC-TUF coalition which was short-lived.
Earlier this week, TUF long-time member Murtland Williams highlighted the distrust of the Coalition, noting that its leaders are using this as a vehicle to gain political power.
However, at a recent press conference, Granger dismissed the comparison of the two coalitions, and noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition seeks to bring ideological conformity.
Yet, a week later, he cannot speak for the AFC, even though he’s leader of the Coalition, and told Lindeners that the two parties have been together on issues for three years now.