– conference underlines dwindling support for party
AT the Alliance for Change (AFC) eighth national conference, attorney Nigel Hughes was elected as the party’s leader, defeating his lone opponent Sherod Duncan.
Duncan, who last served as General Secretary, was a strong contender for the leadership position having secured 15 nominations as against Hughes’ two.
The party held its internal elections Saturday at the Revealed World Christian Center in William Street, Kitty Georgetown. Hughes received 149 votes, while Duncan secured only 62 votes.
David Patterson won the party’s chairmanship with 150 votes over Juretha Fernandes’ 69. Michael Carrington was elected as Vice-Chairman. Attorney Raphael Trotman, an AFC founding member, was appointed General Secretary by acclamation.
Trotman had previously served as Minister of Natural Resources under the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)+AFC coalition government from 2015-2020.
Attorney Khemraj Ramjattan, the outgoing AFC leader and party co-founder, chose not to run for any of the party’s top positions and instead will serve on the National Executive Committee.
The AFC has faced several challenges in recent years, including dwindling membership. For example, 285 delegates were said to have attended its Seventh National Conference in 2022, compared to only 211 at this year’s conference.
The AFC terminated its political coalition with the APNU in 2022. The parties established a coalition to compete in the 2015 elections, which saw them win the government.
The AFC had openly complained about APNU ignoring its smaller coalition members. In December 2018, then-AFC member Charrandass Persaud voted in support of a no-confidence tabled by the then opposition PPP, resulting in the fall of the coalition government.
The AFC was created in 2005 by three Members of Parliament (MPs) who left other parties: Raphael Trotman of the People’s National Congress (PNC), Khemraj Ramjattan of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), and the late Sheila Holder of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).
