…Trotman says party unfazed by talks of loss of support

THE Alliance for Change (AFC)–the junior partner in the APNU-AFC coalition government–on Monday said it has not yet decided if it will contest this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE) alone or as part of the grouping and has dismissed comments that it has lost support since the May 2015 polls.

“Insofar as working with the APNU, we are a member of the coalition; the Cummingsburg Accord is an Accord that primarily dealt with General elections which took place in May of 2015,” said Party leader Raphael Trotman. Trotman told reporters at a media briefing on Monday that there are strong diverse opinions on the matter. He explained that the Accord does not speak to LGE, only General Elections. “There is a strong body of opinion within the party that we should go it alone or there is another view that we should seek to enter into a new accord for Local Government, because the existing Accord was just for National and General elections 2015,” said the AFC leader. He explained that the party is currently assessing the views of its leaders, not only here but abroad, and noted that after a meeting to be scheduled with the APNU and other stakeholders, “we’d get a sense and make that decision way before it (LGE)is announced.

This year marks three years after the signing of the Cummingsburg Accord between the APNU and the AFC to contest the May 2015 General and Regional Elections as a coalition. In May 2017, the AFC appointed a special Cummingsburg Accord Review Committee (CARC) which is tasked with studying the Accord and identifying areas which may require strengthening and updating along with discussion and negotiation with coalition partner, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
The party has repeatedly said that the accord is a sunset agreement which requires early review with a view to the Local Government Elections of 2019 and General and Regional Elections in 2020.

Since then, the Party has called for there to be a review of the Accord which comes to an end next month. “That remains on our agenda; we have sought to canvas some other views. We have in fact identified a team that will represent us in upcoming talks…The accord has a lifespan of a minimum of three years and a maximum of five and was geared primarily towards National Elections and was very silent on LGE,” Trotman reminded reporters Monday.

President David Granger late last year in response to calls by the party to have an urgent review of the Accord, said the AFC is entitled to make that request.
“There is a requirement to review the accord after three years and that three years will expire at midnight on the 13th February, 2018. So it is quite within the right of the AFC to request the review; I don’t have a problem doing that,” the President told Guyana Chronicle.

In anticipation of the review of the Accord, Trotman said his party is seeking to canvas more views from its members as well as non-members. “…We do have friends and critics on the outside whose views we wish to get,” he stated while noting that no date has yet been set for the meeting on the revision of the Accord.
Meanwhile, Trotman said the Accord has thus far worked well for the administration and his party, noting that it was the very Accord which allowed for the coalition’s ascension to government. In fact, the Accord was signed in February and elections were held in May. “…So we got to know the document and each other, in a sense after we entered into Government. There was not a one year before; so there are areas for improvement. But I would say that it has gotten us into government and (2) kept us in government and I’d like to therefore not look at the Accord for what it does not have but I’d like to look at it for what it has, both in terms of its content and what it has been able to deliver.”

Losing support
The AFC leader said the silence with respect to the LGE needs to be “given life” but said the Accord has worked well. “Overall, it has worked for us and we do see areas, if we are to continue working together, that would need to be strengthened.”
In response to critics’ views that the AFC seems to be losing its support base, Trotman said he is unfazed by such views. He explained that when the party was formed in 2005 by himself, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and the late Sheila Holder, there were many naysayers. “…every pundit at the time said we would achieve nothing. Ten years later we have achieved what no other political party in the history of the Anglophone Caribbean was able to do–to gain 5, 7 and eventually 12 seats. So we rely on history and not on critics,” Trotman noted.

He made it clear that the task is not easy but noted that his party is not at all complacent. “It is harder to stay where you are than to get there,” he stated while informing the media that his party will speak and listen to its supporters. “Coalition governments are never perfect…I believe when one looks at our performance…we have done well and have done better than we had been told we would do,” said the AFC leader who reminded that there are many months ahead for LGE and then General Elections. “We are not saying that we are perfect…but we can say that with what we have been given and working with 12 seats in parliament, that we have done much. Of course, there is much room for improvement.”
Bogged down

Notwithstanding, Trotman who holds responsibility for the natural resources sector said “I believe we have become bogged down with governmental matters and fighting to just get our agendas through budgets and may have lost touch a bit with common persons.”
He said the party is satisfied with its performance, but stressed that much work is to be done. Members of the AFC hold the posts as Ministers of Agriculture, Public Infrastructure, Business, Public Telecommunications, and Indigenous People’s Affairs. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is also a member of the AFC. Trotman said his party’s focus for 2018 is two-fold. He pointed to the primary areas of focus as LGE and Constitutional reform and assured that his party remains a strong member of the coalition and will continue its efforts to support the work of the coalition government.