The Alliance For Change (AFC) has now announced that Khemraj Ramjattan will be its presidential candidate and Sheila Holder will be the running mate. Trotman is now out of the picture, or so it seems. This is quite a surprise in many ways and must force the careful observer to probe further. Trotman had given every indication all along that he was prepared to the principle of sacrificing leadership rotation and keep Ramjattan in the lower spot. In fact, only two weeks ago he basically left the door open for his own candidacy. This was done by providing only lukewarm support for Mr. Ramjattan. Holder was nowhere in the picture.
Trotman’s exit now leaves room for speculation along two lines.
Firstly, he ‘allowed’ the spot for Ramjattan despite his reservations and once this was done, decided to ‘cut loose’. The diplomatic way to do this was to move Holder up, who up to a few days ago was never in the picture. Trotman needs to say if this is so or not.
Second, and more importantly, some are now speculating that Trotman may have abandoned the top level of the AFC because by so doing he would free up votes for the PNC. This writer was reminded that it was Mr. Trotman who had met or who was at least seen at the Pegasus with Henry Hartley and some PNC operatives. Mr. Trotman needs to confirm if that is true, and also to clarify if his decision to effectively withdraw from the AFC is a result of those meetings.
The PNC would be very happy with Mr. Trotman’s moves because as some columnists in Guyana have noted, it was he (Trotman) who brought in the votes in 2006. Mr. Ramjattan has not managed to make much inroads with the electorate so far, and Ms. Holder has jumped around too many times from party to party to have any credibility.
Trotman’s move will weaken the AFC and strengthen the PNC.