The Alliance For Change (AFC) says it is alarmed and horrified by the reports that an arson attempt was made on the home of one of the party’s Local Government Elections (LGE) candidates on Wednesday night.

The attempt was made on the home of Rashree Permaul of Bloomfield village, in the Whim/Bloomfield Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) on the Corentyne.

According to the AFC , at approximately 21:45hrs on Wednesday, Permaul was alerted to flames emanating from a fire which was set in a box placed next to the wall of the lower flat of her home.

The AFC said the fire was put out quickly enough to prevent any major damage to the home. It was later discovered that a pillar of the home located close to the fire was doused in what appeared to be kerosene.

The party said Permaul lives in the home with her two children and bed-ridden father. “The AFC views this as a terror attack both on Ms. Permaul and the lives of her children and father and her home. This act is consistent with the old political tactics of fear which is resorted to by certain political entities,” the party said.

The AFC said it is relieved that Permaul and her family members are safe and the party condemned ” this ghastly attempt to destroy her property and threaten her life and the lives of her family.”

The AFC call is calling on the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Fire Service to fully investigate what it termed a criminal act and to also apprehend the arsonist(s).

“It is now evident that the campaign of threats and terror against the AFC activists, about which the party complained, has been taken to another level with this attempted arson,” the party stated.

It said the resort to violence by “political thugs” and “hooligans” will not intimidate party fighters who are now more determined to work for change in the  particular NDC.

Recently , Justice Navindra Singh dismissed a court case taken to the courts by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which sought to have the names of 50 nominators removed from a list submitted by the AFC to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the Bloomfield/Whim Local Authority Area (LAA).

The case was brought against GECOM’s Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and the Returning Officer, Bloomfield /Whim, Orlando Persaud.

In a Fixed Date Application, Shafraz Beekham, a PPP/C candidate, had contended that he and 49 others were misled by AFC representatives into signing as nominators on the AFC’s List of Candidates. As such, his application was intended to quash GECOM’s decision to refuse to withdraw, remove, or delete the applicant’s name and the names of 49 other electors that appeared on the AFC’s list of nominators.

In handing down his ruling at the Berbice High Court, Justice Singh said there was no evidence of fraud, trickery or threats and as such, there was no basis to ask the chief election officer to ‘strike out’ the names of the nominators from the AFC’s Lists of Candidates.