APNU to contest LGE as united team

A PARTNERSHIP for National Unity (APNU) on Monday reiterated that the five parties making up the Partnership are “better together” than apart and have committed to competing in the upcoming local government elections (LGE) as a “united team.”
The Partnership said too that it is committed to cooperating for the common good.

In a statement to the media, APNU said by way of its Executive Council meetings dated September 2017 and January 2018, the five parties, the Guyana Action Party (GAP); the Justice for All Party (JFAP); the National Front Alliance (NFA); the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR); and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) have “reaffirmed their commitment to competing in the forthcoming local government elections as a united team”.
The Partnership’s statement comes at a time when its coalition partner in government, the Alliance for Change (AFC), has said there has been no determination as to whether the party will contest this year’s LGE alone or with the APNU. The AFC’s leader, Raphael Trotman told reporters on Monday at a media briefing, that there are strong opinions on the matter while adding that the three-year-old Cummingsburg 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 and there is another view that we should seek to enter into a new accord for Local Government because the existing Accord was just for the 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.
The APNU was established six and a half years ago, “not as a temporary electoral expedient, but on the basis of an enduring political principle,” the statement said. The group of political parties reminded that it had protested, and struggled for the return of the LGE to enable people in their communities to democratically elect their representatives. “APNU believes that Local Government Elections are an important platform and a Constitutional right. APNU believes that its partners are ‘better together’ than apart and is committed to cooperating for the common good,” while adding that the partnership has started to plan collectively for its local government elections campaign.