THE main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) was yesterday not very forthcoming on the bid being led by the small Alliance For Change (AFC) for a possible opposition coalition for next year’s general elections. “The talk about alliance is not new”, it offered in a press statement at its weekly press conference postponed from Thursday but did not go into details on the latest AFC initiative.
It said there was nothing “secret” about meetings this week on a likely opposition coalition with Barbados-based political strategist Hartley Henry, who was brought in by the AFC, but it did not shed much more light on the matter.
AFC Vice-President Sheila Holder told the Stabroek News her party was working out the principles or terms in which it would be involved in any alliance and that Henry was invited by the AFC to give a briefing on the negotiations of the pact that led to the formation of the People’s Partnership, the opposition coalition which won a landslide victory in Trinidad and Tobago recently.
AFC leader Raphael Trotman in January this year reacted strongly to reports suggesting that his party was considering merging with the PNCR, from which he had earlier defected as a senior member and Member of Parliament.
He told a news conference then that there was no discussion with the PNCR about forming a coalition and accused the PNCR of being in secret talks with the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) on shared governance.
PNCR leader Robert Corbin in turn accused Trotman of downplaying continuous engagements between their two parties, reporting that they had had several meetings, discussions and consultations over the past three years.
The PNCR yesterday said that it declared its commitment to work for “shared governance in Guyana” since 2002 and its position papers are on its website.
It added that it has also regularly publicised that it has held discussions with several parties and interest groups toward the achievement of this objective.
Political observers feel the AFC may be trying to upstage the PNCR as the major opposition force heading into next year’s elections and the PNCR is not likely to take this lightly.
One analyst noted that Henry met PNCR senior member and presidential aspirant Winston Murray separately before meeting Corbin.
Murray told the Guyana Times he met Henry in his personal capacity and said he found it strange that Trotman was at the same meeting at the Pegasus Hotel Monday morning.
Henry met Corbin and other PNCR members at the Georgetown Club Monday afternoon.
The analyst found it strange that Henry met Corbin and Murray separately when both are from one party.
At a meeting Saturday, the AFC’s National Executive Committee reaffirmed its commitment to forging compatible alliances and Holder told the Stabroek News that Trotman was mandated to arrange meetings with several groups and individuals, including Corbin and Murray.
She said that all members of the party’s executive were aware of planned meetings, adding that there was nothing “secret” or “clandestine” about the meetings.
Henry is an advisor to Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson and his Democratic Labour Party.
His meetings here followed the findings of a political opinion survey conducted by Caribbean Development Research Services Inc (CADRES) to which he is linked.
The poll was commissioned and paid for by Floyd Haynes who owns the Washington-based Newton Group and who is married to Chantalle Smith, a former AFC MP.
Henry and Trotman refused to comment on their meeting at the Pegasus Hotel and Murray hurried off as reporters approached for an interview.
Murray resigned as PNCR Chairman last year as a leadership crisis deepened in the main opposition party and speculation has surfaced that Trotman may be courting him as a possible alternative AFC running mate for next year’s general elections.
The AFC failed to resolve a leadership impasse after a one-day meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) which went into late Saturday night and insiders said it is now clear that Trotman is being favoured over chairman Khemraj Ramjattan as its presidential candidate for the 2011 general elections.
AFC insiders said the party has not adhered to its public commitment for revolving leadership and this has made Trotman the favourite for its 2011 presidential candidate.
Ramjattan’s backers have been pushing for him to replace Trotman at the helm of the party in keeping with a leadership rotation agreement but the NEC could not break the deadlock at the Saturday meeting.
The party said in a press release that its regional and international groups have now been officially mandated to nominate candidates for the presidential and prime ministerial positions, after which the NEC will make recommendations to its national conference scheduled for later in the year.
According to AFC sources, the Ramjattan faction is not comfortable with this development and his backers are exploring options, including forming a breakaway party.
Trotman is a former senior PNCR member who defected to form his own party while Ramjattan is a defector from the governing PPP.
Another PNCR defector, Peter Ramsaroop, was up to recently a senior member of the AFC leadership but he resigned and is being investigated for allegedly spying through concealed cameras on a teenaged female tenant in an apartment building he owns in Queenstown, Georgetown.