LEADER of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, has confirmed that he is aware that some members of the Alliance for Change (AFC) are desirous of seeing that political party part ways with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Norton, who is also the Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), while speaking at forum in Canada, noted that he knows that the issue is being deliberated on within the AFC party.
“I know there are some issues that are under consideration and that there are some people in the AFC who believe they should go their way, [however] Mr. [Khemraj] Ramjattan has never said that to me,” Norton told those in attendance.
“So I think the AFC so far has not said that they will go at the end of the day but people put it however they want…,” he added.
The AFC, over the past few years, has made no bones about its deliberations and considerations on leaving its partnership with the APNU, which has seen a number of members walking away from the union over the years.
Reports are that their main concern was the dictatorial behaviour of the PNC/R, which is the largest faction of the APNU coalition. Norton is also the Chairman of the APNU.
The Working People Alliance (WPA) and Justice for All Party (JFAP) are two notable affiliates that have left the APNU coalition, while several individual members of the PNC/R have also parted ways with the party citing conflicts with the executives.
According to reports, the party’s General Secretary, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, opted to proceed on leave after experiencing “difficulties.”
The AFC has been testing the waters with regard to becoming an independent party. It contested the 2018 Local Government Elections separately from the APNU.
Earlier this year at its National Conference, the AFC discussed the prospect of walking away from the APNU+AFC coalition.
The delegates were presented with three options relating to the way forward: remaining in the party under the current circumstances, leave the coalition altogether or remain in the coalition but under a “revised political alliance.” Several votes were garnered for the option to exit, however, majority voted for the party to remain in the coalition.
Relations between the two partners became strained when it was time to pick a candidate for the Vice-Chairmanship of Region 10.
Norton made it clear that his party will not allow the AFC to “dictate” the picking of the candidate, while AFC’s leader declared that there could be “consequences in relation to the relationship” between the APNU and the AFC if the party did not get support for their selectee, Coretta Brathwaite.
