–party still without a plan, continues campaign of sloganeering, Jagdeo says

AFTER 19 years of existence, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has neither an achievement to document nor a plan to present to Guyanese, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo has said.
Late last month, the party celebrated its 19th anniversary with a promise to present a vision for Guyana, titled “Pathway to the Future.”
Jagdeo, however, emphasised that the AFC has nothing to celebrate, noting: “They don’t have a plan as yet. After 19 years, they plan to launch a plan for the future. They don’t have a plan. Nineteen years of celebrating nothing documented as yet? So, what are you really celebrating? And they’re celebrating 19 years of lies and broken promises.”

It has been widely reported that the party has struggled over the years with declining electoral support, inconsistent messaging that undermines public trust, leadership controversies that alienate potential supporters and ineffective engagement strategies.
Critics say prior to its ultimate “demise” following the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, the AFC functioned in the shadow of its coalition partner, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), completely powerless and unable to influence decisions or effect change.
The weakness of the party was exposed by former party member and Member of Parliament, Charrandass Persaud, who had voted yes in support of a motion presented in the National Assembly by then opposition PPP to topple the APNU+AFC administration in 2018.
Following his historic vote, he said: “We are sitting in Parliament like ‘yes-men’ to APNU, and we are AFC… and we have not blended with APNU. The other parties have, we have not. The government is APNU+AFC; we have not blended. So why are we doing everything they want to do, like passing Prime Minister Hamilton Green’s Pension Bill?

“We are not opposing anything,” he had said, adding: “We are not saying ‘no’ to anything, and that is what my problem is. I can’t stand that.”
Many persons like Persaud had initially embraced the party because of its “lofty” goals, as described by Jagdeo; however, not only did the AFC never deliver on any of those goals, it is now merely a shadow of its former self.
“The party had gained support and then today it’s a shadow of its former self. So, [you are] celebrating 19 years and now you weaker than ever before; it’s 19 years of rise and decline, you’ve declined almost to nothingness now,” Jagdeo said during a recent press conference at Freedom House.
He went on to say: “So, they’re celebrating 19 years of duplicity, 19 years of betrayal of the people of this country, 19 years of corruption, of incompetence, of lack of vision.”
Jagdeo also exposed the AFC’s attempts to resuscitate its old messages of “change” which had served its purpose in 2015, but are now worn flat.

WORN FLAT
“Their message is worn flat….what are you going to change from? So, the first thing [they’ve] got to change from [is] their corrupt ways,” he said, pointing to the questionable actions of familiar faces who remain at the helm of the party.
Jagdeo questioned: “What are they going to change from? Really?” adding: “And it is 19 years of this you’re celebrating.”
Further dismantling the AFC’s pledges, he alluded to the “New Republic,” which party leader, Nigel Hughes referenced during the 19th anniversary celebration.
“He wants a new republic of it, basically nepotism. Because I see he and his wife standing here, nepotism… a new republic of corruption, a new republic of double standards, of conflict of interest. What New Republic? It’s sloganeering.
“And in this New Republic, high level of respect, transparency and accountability, economic and social justice, [just] slogans… was Cathy Hughes thinking about economic justice? Why didn’t [she] focus on 2,000 to 3,000 new contractors rather than her getting contract in ou r[sic] own ministry?…they didn’t think about incubating new contractors, including of every race. We (PPP/C) have young people getting opportunities, scholarships.
“They didn’t think about social justice for young people. When the [coalition] ministers were hogging the scholarships themselves, or they took a 50 per cent increase in their salaries and had foreign medical insurance paid for by the state, they didn’t think about that. Where [was] the economic and social justice? It’s slogans again,” Jagdeo said.

PUBLIC TRUST AND INTEGRITY
Public trust and integrity are already at an all-time low for the party, and this was emphasised recently by Dominic Gaskin, former AFC executive member and son-in-law of ex-President David Granger. He had said that first, the AFC needs to prove to Guyanese that it is ready to respect the will of the people before it could effectively contest an election.

Guyanese are still scarred from the blatant attempts of the People’s National Congress-Reform (PNC-R)/APNU+AFC to undermine the will of the people and influence the outcome of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Those actions, witnessed by people the world over, had further diminished the integrity of those parties which now occupy the seat of opposition.
However, despite this reality, party leader Hughes at a press conference on Friday, while responding to questions on the possibility of an apology, said: “I’m not sure what we would apologise for.”
Over 100 governments from around the world had condemned the attempts to undermine the will of the Guyanese people, and the presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections further exposed the blatant actions of the coalition.
The AFC, since 2020, has continued to haemorrhage support and members. At its Seventh National Conference in 2022, 285 delegates attended, but at this year’s conference, that number dropped to just 211—a clear indicator of the party’s decline