says coalition was ‘doomed’ from the start because of PNC’s ‘poor attitude’

DISAPPOINTED by the unsatisfactory work done by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) while in office from 2015-2020, a former coalition parliamentarian, Audwin Rutherford, has decided to throw his support behind the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs).

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Rutherford, who is a candidate for the PPP/C at the upcoming elections, said that he had already made up his mind to “take a backseat” in the political arena after leaving the AFC, but he was inspired by President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s encouraging words to be a useful contributor in the mission to transform the mining town of Linden.

Recapping what it was like working with the APNU+AFC/People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Rutherford said: “The general attitude of the PNC to a real AFC person is not one you can work with.”
He said there was great reluctance from many persons to even join forces with the PNC, so his belief is that the coalition was doomed to fail from the start.
Rutherford went on to say that since he has been working with the PPP/C, the party’s members have been nothing but welcoming to him.

According to the former parliamentarian, the “One Guyana” strategy is a “special call” because: “…After 57 years of independence and 53 years of Linden [being] a town, we have not achieved much… what we did not have for many years is the ability to harness those resource[s].”

The LGEs, however, present an opportunity for Lindeners to choose better management, not only to improve their current state, but also to better the town for future generations.
Apart from improving the market square and providing more recreational spaces for the youths, the LGEs candidate said that most of the roads in Linden are in a deplorable state, so he intends to work with central government to fix this.

Rutherford said, however, that the condition of the roads is concerning since the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) receives a subvention from central government and it is also supposed to generate its own revenues to do basic community-enhancement work.

He is confident that he would be able to improve conditions in the town, since he has a good working relationship with Lindeners and he understands what the residents want.
The LGEs candidate also added that although he did not play a major role in his former party, he believes that his experience is sufficient to guide Linden forward.