THE proposal by the Alliance For Change (AFC) to advance a “broad pro-democracy coalition” that includes the main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), and disenchanted former supporters of the ruling party has attracted negative comments from both parties.

“Indeed the AFC is ready to enter, if necessary, into negotiations to lead a pro-democracy alliance with progressive forces, workers unions, political forces and by political forces we mean even PPP members who have been disenfranchised and APNU,” AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan said at the party’s fourth biennial conference on Saturday.
APNU Leader, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger has dubbed the proposal a premature one, explaining that while the possibility is one to look forward too, AFC’s declarations are hasty.
Meanwhile, General-Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee contends that AFC is a “force-ripe” party.
“It is a force-ripe proposal. AFC is a force-ripe party. They are seeking to big up themselves,” he said at the party’s weekly press conference at Freedom House yesterday.
According to him, the ruling party will “wait and see” the nature of the alliance proposed by the AFC.

WARNING FOR APNU
Additionally, Rohee warned that it appears that the AFC is trying to upstage the main Opposition, APNU.
“They are seeking to replace Mr. Granger as the Leader of the Opposition and the APNU better watch out for the AFC, because the APNU may very well find themselves being replaced by the AFC if they do not watch out,” he said.

‘POACHERS’
He pointed out that AFC are “poachers” that capitalises on the challenges of other political parties.
“The AFC poaches on PPP and the PNC. That’s what they do, which is why it is said the APNU better watch out for the AFC. This time I think they are targeting APNU supporters. The last time they targeted our supporters, but what has happened is that our supporters are coming back home; whereas there is a lot of dissatisfaction with APNU and Linden is a case in point. The AFC is seeking to cash in on the disenchantment in APNU stronghold and take advantage of the challenges of Mr. Granger’s leadership,” Rohee said.
The PPP General-Secretary added that these challenges to Granger’s leadership were evident in a “laudatory” letter, relative to the AFC, from APNU Member of Parliament (MP) Carl Greenidge.
“If we have political neo-fights into the Opposition we can’t help them,” he said, adding that something is clearly “rotten in the kingdom of Demark,” referring to the Office of the Opposition Leader.

AFC CHALLENGED
Even as the AFC is advancing talks of replacing the ruling party, the party itself is facing challenges of its own.
Notably, it still remains to be seen if the party’s conference, which was initially slated for October, effectively addressed its internal challenges or whether fuel was added to the fire, particularly given pronouncements made by its leader. The challenges, according to several political observers, include:
* Internal wrangling as a result of Ramjattan’s endorsement of Nagamootoo as the party’s presidential candidate;
* The resignations of mainstream supporters;
* The perception that it is aligned with the main Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), particularly as it relates to the divisions in the party, which has seen two factions emerging – the Ramjattan faction and the Hughes faction;
* Indications of lost support in People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) constituencies where it managed to secure something of a foothold during the 2011 elections; and
* Damning allegations that the party is practicing race politics.
Despite this, in addressing the stated challenges, Ramjattan on Saturday declared that, “This Party is a united party.”