– President Ramotar says coalition comes as ‘no surprise’

(By Mark Ramotar and Gary Eleazar)

THE long courtship came to a formal end yesterday (Valentine’s Day) following the much-anticipated ‘marriage of convenience’ between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).
Three years after bitterly contesting against each other in the 2011 General and Regional Elections, the political coalition APNU and the AFC have joined forces in a move intended to oust the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) from office come May 11, 2015 when Guyanese head to the polls.
But Guyanese Head of State, President Donald Ramotar, deems news of the merger as “no surprise”. In fact, the President, in an invited comment last evening, told the Chronicle that what the two Opposition parties have done was only to formalise their relationship, as they had been in an informal coalition against government for a long time now, especially over the past three years.
The President said that, given the track record of the combined Opposition, the marriage of convenience, as announced yesterday, Valentine’s Day, by the Combined Opposition, was expected.
“The charade has been going on for a long time…this is just a formality of what has been expected for a while,” President Ramotar told the Chronicle.
“It is not surprising to me…the AFC and APNU have always been working together, like two peas to a pod, both inside and outside of Parliament. In Parliament they have voted almost 100 percent in favour of each other, and against the Government. Together they have tried everything to stymie Guyana’s growth and development…,” the President commented.
He made mention of the fact that, just recently, the APNU and AFC came together on the ‘no confidence’ motion; as well as joining hands to prevent the passage in the National Assembly of the crucially important Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) bill.

‘CUMMINGSBURG ACCORD’
Under the ‘Cummingsburg Accord,’ Opposition Leader David Granger joined the AFC leadership yesterday in the Campbell Room of the Georgetown Club to formally announce that the two parties would be contesting the 2015 General and Regional elections fielding a single list of candidates.
The announcement at a packed news conference came ahead of any specifics, such as party name, symbol and regional arrangements, among other issues.
It was, however, announced that the APNU/AFC merger would field David Granger as its Presidential Candidate, while Moses Nagamootoo would be fielded as the Prime Ministerial Candidate.
The merger of these two parties would usher in an entirely new regime of Government should it succeed to gain office. As announced by Granger, “In the construct of a new Government, the APNU would be allocated one Vice President and the AFC two Vice Presidents, (all) of whom would be members of the Cabinet.”
The coalition also proposes to reorganise the role of the President. According to Granger, the President would hold the portfolio of Head of State, and would be Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief, having responsibility for the appointment of constitutional agencies and commissions. Foreign Affairs, International Relations, National Security Policy, the Defence Board, the Joint Intelligence Committee and other such organisations would also fall under the direct stewardship of the President.
The President would also delegate responsibilities to the Prime Minister. Among those delegated responsibilities would be domestic national affairs and chairing Cabinet, recommending ministerial appointments and providing the organisational structures of ministries for the approval of the president; overseeing domestic security as well as appointing heads of agencies and non-constitutional commissions.

While discussions between the two parties are yet to be concluded, Granger said it has been broadly agreed that there would be a 60/40 makeup of the cabinet in favour of APNU. Financing for the election campaign would also be split along the 60/40 ratio.
It was proposed also that the posts of Speaker of the National Assembly and representatives of the list would be chosen by consensus, with involvement of civil society. Granger told reporters that this mechanism would be used as a form of conflict resolution, should that situation arise in future.

Reportedly, while both parties went into the negotiations with maximum positions, compromises were made. One such compromise saw the AFC’s choice for presidential candidacy of the merger, Moses Nagamootoo, having to cede that post to Granger.
AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan told media operatives that the AFC had intended to lead this new APNU/AFC coalition, but because the powers of the Prime Minister would be greatly increased, the party saw a satisfactory alternative in ceding the post of Presidential Candidate to APNU.
“This is a historic and watershed political development for our country, as this new electoral alliance moves to put Guyana on the correct path, where all Guyanese, regardless of ethnicity, can feel fully motivated and be proud of his or her nation, and is afforded the opportunity to make meaningful contribution to the society while successfully caring for themselves and family,” Granger declared.
Reiterating that negotiations are yet to be concluded, Granger told those present: “The work has just begun, and we have no time to lose. Starting immediately, the general secretaries of both parties will commence the process of combining our campaign teams into one unbeatable electoral machine to secure the victory this country urgently demands of us.”
He pointed out that while APNU had planned to launch its campaign independent of the AFC, the ‘Cummingsburg Accord’ changes this, and the two parties will now be looking to launch a single campaign.
The APNU negotiating team included Carl Greenidge, Joseph Harmon, Basil Williams, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Keith Scott, while the AFC team included David Patterson, Dominique Gaskin and Rajendra Bissessar.
Patterson told reporters that the negotiating teams will continue to meet to iron out all of the activities associated with preparing a single list.