THE 60:40 ratio within the Cummingsburg Accord for the allocation of parliamentary, ministerial and regional positions is the only matter to be decided upon by the coalition partners and the Alliance For Change (AFC) when they hold a final meeting on Monday.

At a press conference on Friday, AFC Executive Member, Dominic Gaskin said the party is not looking to “score points” against its partner, but aims to simply get what it deserves.

He is positive that this time around, the deadline will not pass without favourable agreement.

Under the old Cummingsburg Accord, which brought the AFC and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) together on February 14, 2015, APNU was allocated 60 per cent of the seats won by the government in the National Assembly, while the remaining 40 per cent went to the AFC.

However, as scheduled, renegotiations on the Cummingsburg Accord began recently, and this saw the parties ironing out several matters, including the much- deliberated-upon prime ministerial candidacy.

At its national conference earlier in the year, the AFC identified its Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan as the prime ministerial candidate.

Gaskin said the AFC’s naming of Ramjattan as such is in keeping with the Cummingsburg Accord, which is still in effect.

He further stated that the AFC believes that Ramjattan brings “a good balance” to Presidential Candidate, President David Granger, and has been a strong leader of the AFC over the years.

Meanwhile, regarding the final matter to be decided upon, there seems to be a disagreement among the coalition members on whether the 60:40 ratio should remain.

A proposal is reportedly on the table for a 70:30 ratio, based on the “perceived and real reduced electoral strength” of the AFC.

While Gaskin said the party is not unmoving when it comes to the 60:40 allocation, should less be offered to the AFC, there must be something else put in its place that the AFC is willing to accept.

“We’re not looking to score points against our partners; we’re looking for an acceptable outcome, and we have a fairly good idea of what’s acceptable to the AFC,” he said.

He added: “This is a negotiation, and we are not going in to it saying ‘This is what we want, and there is no discussion.’ We are flexible; we are a mature political party. However, in any negotiation, we do get to a point when I think both sides realise that if we can’t go any further, it’s useless to proceed. We are not at that point right now. We anticipate that there will be an agreement by Monday.”

In a prepared statement from the party, Gaskin had also hit home the importance of the Monday deadline, stating that it could “no longer be extended”.

Initially, AFC had hoped to sign off on the revised Cummingsburg Accord by November 10.

And while he referred to a separate contesting of the 2020 elections as “an unlikely scenario”, Gaskin noted that the party is prepared, nonetheless, for the same.

Apart from these points, Gaskin opted against “confirming too much” on the part that the negotiations are still ongoing.

Meanwhile, over at a press conference of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), Party Chair Volda Lawrence said the negotiations have proceeded well, with present hopes for a conclusion “very soon”.

She declined to state whether Ramjattan had been chosen as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

“I will say to you that the negotiations are in place, and it is a negotiation, and at the end of that negotiation, both parties will be speaking on all the matters, I’m quite certain, with the full media,” Lawrence said.