…Ramjattan new Chairman as Cathy Hughes bows out

ALLIANCE For Change (AFC) party co-founder, Raphael Trotman, has once again been elected

to serve the party as its leader following elections held at the party’s Fifth Biennial Conference at the Vreed-en-Hoop Primary School on Saturday.

Co-founder of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, was elected chairman. Voting for the top post of the AFC was closely contested between the two party executives. Trotman, the current Minister of Natural Resources, won by two votes over Ramjattan, the Public Security Minister, with final figures of 127-125 in favour of Trotman.

And following the elections, President David Granger in a congratulatory message to Trotman and the AFC, recommitted the other half of the coalition government, A Partnership for

National Unity’s (APNU’s) position to the Cummingsburg Accord.
According to the release from the AFC, in the race for the post of party chairman, executive member Cathy Hughes withdrew her candidacy and Ramjattan was declared chairman, unopposed. Hughes will serve as vice-chair of the party.

The official election results saw newcomer Marlon Williams with 125 votes, being elected general-secretary of the party. Williams was elected to the post ahead of David Patterson, who attained 83 votes.
The results of the election for members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) will be announced subsequently, once the voting and counting processes are completed. The Returning Officer who oversaw the electoral process was Clayton Hall.

Trotman had served as party leader soon after he, along with Ramjattan and the late Sheila Holder, founded the party in 2005. He told reporters on Wednesday evening at a reception at the Chinese Embassy on Mandela Avenue, that the AFC will remain united, despite the outcome of the elections.
He said that he had been nominated by several persons and he planned to represent them to the best of his ability. The founding member had noted that he would serve in whatever capacity he was elected within the party, noting that his nomination provided him with added confidence to serve the AFC. Trotman had also said that the elections would capture the vision of the AFC, noting that the party had brought strength and value to the coalition government.

“And we meet the people’s expectations, the people expect us to be a strong and vibrant party,” he said. Trotman added that the AFC‘s vision is not premised on race, but rather on a “commonality of purpose,” noting that whoever presents the best possibilities to the party will become eventual winners.
According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency, President Granger and the partners of the APNU noted that the party looks forward to working “very closely with Mr Trotman and the new leadership of the AFC as we work together to achieve a better life for all Guyanese.”