THE A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) says it values the small parties, namely the Justice For All Party (JFAP) and the National Front Alliance (NFA) which have been excluded from representation in the 12th Parliament.

JFAP is led by Chandra Narine and Savitri Sharma and the NFA is led by former minister with responsibilities for labour, Keith Scott.

Jaipaul Sharma, a former APNU+AFC minister and son of the JFAP leaders, officially announced his departure from active politics, just five months after his party suffered a defeat at the polls.

On Tuesday evening, Sharma wrote on his Facebook page that: “As the mantle of leadership passes, I humbly announced my retirement from active politics and writing this was not easy, even though I know it’s been coming for a while now.”

He said that “all good things come to an end” and that his journey in politics was one filled with pride and happiness.

After the APNU+AFC won the 2015 elections, Sharma was appointed minister within the Ministry of Finance, and in 2019, was moved to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, where he became a minister within that ministry.

“I have tried to serve our citizens diligently at all times; however, I was not always successful in getting the necessary assistance to resolve the complaints of everyone but I hope my responsiveness has weighed favourably against my failure in getting you a favourable outcome to your concerns. I wanted to say one final thank you for the honour of serving as your minister and Member of Parliament. Because all that I’ve learned in my time in office, I’ve learned from you. You made me a better person and a better leader,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, APNU, on Wednesday in a press release, noted that there was no discrimination or preferential treatment meted out to any partner during the selection of coalition members for the 12th Parliament.

Those selected, APNU noted, met the nomination criteria that included citizenship (proof of nationality), competence, community service, constituency representation, ethnic balance, gender balance, generational balance, geographical balance, occupational balance, and political party membership.

BIG BENAB

“APNU remains committed to bringing an end to winner-takes-all politics and one-party rule in Guyana. We are convinced that in order to achieve these goals we must have a big benab where all are welcome. All partners must be guided by the partnership’s agreed core principles and objectives to transform the country into one that is politically, socially, economically, and culturally liberated,” the party stated.

The party stated that it is proud of the candidates that have been selected to represent the partnership in the National Assembly.

“Our list is balanced by gender, geography and generation. Candidates represent a wide cross-section of our country and a bold step forward,” APNU added.

The party emphasised that when the APNU+AFC launched its General and Regional Elections Campaign Committee on February 1, 2019, all five partners participated and agreed that each party needed to aggressively campaign to increase the coalition‘s 2015 parliamentary seat allocation.

The chairman of APNU, Brigadier (r’td) David Granger further pointed out that it would take about 7,000 votes to qualify for a single parliamentary seat and he encouraged each minor party to aim for that target.

The composition of the list of candidates extracted to represent the APNU in the 12th Parliament represents the parties that actively participated and campaigned during the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

As such, APNU underscored that the Guyana Action Party (GAP) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) will be sending candidates to parliament.

“It is, therefore, false and regrettable, for anyone to state that small parties within the APNU are being used, abused and discarded. All parties that comprise the APNU are valued members of the partnership. We respect them and urge them to continue to work to achieve our goal of a more cohesive society,” the party stated.

APNU highlighted that it’s Statement of Principles to which all partners ascribe, clearly affirm that a positive transformation of Guyana can only be achieved by an inclusive Electoral Coalition built around the political parties, and other stakeholders.

“The coalition must be organised and committed to develop Guyana into a united, stable and prosperous nation, where the well-being of each citizen is assured, irrespective of differences in race, religion, region of residence, social rank or political persuasion. APNU has not and will not deviate from its founding principles,” the party explained.