THE speculation surrounding the resignation of Mr. Ismail Muhammad, as Chairman of The United Force (TUF), was confirmed yesterday by that party’s executive member, Ms. June Anna Brassington.
She told the Guyana Chronicle, in an invited comment, “It was unanimously agreed that Ms. (Marissa) Nadir should be the Prime Ministerial Candidate. I will agree that that may have prompted him to leave. But our view is that no one is here for self-gratification. We are here for the people.”
Brassington expressed TUF’s appreciation for the contribution Muhammad made to the party during his time with them.
“It is his democratic right to move and we accept that…we wish him all the best,” she said.
Brassington noted that TUF’s young executive has the full support of the seniors executives and other members.
Another executive, Mr. Murtland Williams told this newspaper that, while Muhammad’s decision to leave may have been, eventually, prompted by Nadir’s appointment, he was already contemplating to resign.
“Two months ago, Mr. Muhammad invited me to come with him to a meeting with Mr. (David) Granger. This was before any decision to appoint a Prime Ministerial Candidate,” he disclosed.
Williams revealed that he, a party stalwart of 52 years, was the one who nominated Ms. Nadir for the appointment.
He said he told Muhammad that he cannot let politics make him. He must make politics.

Identity issue

“Mr. Muhammad has an identity issue,” Williams concluded.
Muhammad, last weekend, took to the campaign platform of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in Bartica, where he said he is now firmly behind the leadership of Granger as Presidential Candidate.
Prior to then, he was listed as a member on the TUF Executive, which also included Williams, Mr. Dennis Lee, Treasurer and Mr. Elton Chase, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) accredited Chief Scrutineer for that party. 
TUF first contested national elections in 1964, when it received 12.4 per cent of the vote and won seven seats, becoming the junior partner in a coalition government with the People’s National Congress (PNC).
In the 1968 elections, its share of the votes fell to 7.4 per cent and it was reduced to four seats. The party did not contest any elections during the 1970s but returned in 1980, receiving 2.9 per cent of the vote and winning two seats. It retained the two seats in the 1985 elections, before being reduced to a single seat in 1992, which it retained in 1997, 2001 and 2006 elections.
TUF has been struggling with leadership challenges but maintains that it has not joined forces with any other political party and would rather contest the 2011 elections independently.