PUBLIC Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has been declared leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), and Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, chairman.
Ramjattan and Trotman were elected unopposed. Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes was elected vice-chair, while Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, with 155 of 274 votes, was elected general-secretary.

Beverly Alert, Leonard Craig and Michael Carrington had also contested the position of general secretary, while Marlon Williams, the outgoing general-secretary, withdrew from nomination for re-election. In the ‘race’ to occupy the vice chairmanship of the alliance, Hughes defeated Nicola Trotman, Valerie Lowe and Trevor Williams, to return to the post.
Up to press time, the Guyana Chronicle was unable to confirm the names of members of the 12-member National Executive Committee (NEC).

On Saturday, approximately 275 AFC delegates turned up to attend the party’s National Conference and Elections at St. Paul’s Retreat Centre on the East Coast of Demerara. Ramjattan, ahead of the elections, told reporters that he was confident of a win.
At the close of the conference, Patterson, who once served as the AFC’s general-secretary and now returns to the post, told reporters that there was full representation at the conference with delegates drawn from the 10 administrative regions, the Caribbean and wider diaspora.

Patterson noted that a total of 14 motions were placed on the floor; however, four were withdrawn, another four were defeated, and six were passed. Among the motions passed was a motion that called for the newly elected Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan to be the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Speaking to reporters outside the St. Paul’s Retreat Centre, moments before the conference started, Minister Hughes said she would give of her all, regardless. “I have been part of the AFC for many years, since day one (and) I am willing to serve in any way. I am not a betting person, but I have had different positions and I am more than happy to serve. I think Guyana needs the Alliance for Change (AFC) and I will always be part of it in some way, even as an ordinary member,” Hughes told reporters.

Asked about claims made by executive member Imran Khan that he and his wife were being threatened, Minister Hughes said the situation could have been handled differently. “I think it was blown totally out of our proportion. Elections time is silly season they say, and we see that all the time. I am extremely disappointed, because one individual making a totally inaccurate and unnecessary and uncalled statement is not a reflection of the Alliance For Change and it is something that I feel could have been dealt with very, very quietly,” Hughes told reporters.

Days before the conference, Khan, in a statement, said he and his wife were being threatened for being involved in the party from a “hooligan” and “thug” empowered by another AFC executive.

Khan, on Saturday, stood by his statement. “I believe that I gave it good thought and I made the statement on the basis that it was absolutely necessary,” he said.
He added: “I have a number of options and I chose the option that I thought was most appropriate.” Khan said he is waiting on an appropriate time to file an official complain. After the elections, Khan, on his Facebook page, wrote: “Pleased to report that despite strenuous efforts by certain persons to derail the elections Tammy Khan prevailed and was today elected Chair of Women For Change (WFC), the women’s arm of AFC.”

The leadership of the party said the concerns raised by Khan were not raised during the conference.