THE collapse of coalition talks between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) is not just a collapsed negotiation—more, it is a symptom of a deeper sickness in Guyana’s opposition politics.
Despite public professions of “best efforts” and open doors to future collaboration, the reality is that both sides are more interested in grabbing at the spoils than amicably deciding on policy objectives and principles that would guide a united force.
At the heart of the failure was not a lack of time or good faith, but an irreducible inability to escape self-interest.

The negotiations were conducted by horse trading around offices—presidential candidate who would get to be, the splitting of the ministries, and what percentage of government seats each side would get—AFC wanting to have Nigel Hughes as its presidential candidate, and insisting on grabbing 40 per cent of the government seats.

APNU, however, baulked at these terms, and pledged commitment to its smaller affiliate parties, and not wanting to offer so much.
This fixation with “splitting spoils” at the expense of establishing a shared vision of Guyana’s future has come under severe criticism, most especially from PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo, who asserted that the negotiations were “bound to fail”, as the parties were more concerned about dividing government goodies than working on policies to benefit ordinary Guyanese.

This outcome has left the opposition looking both divided and unserious. The failure of the AFC to explain its objection to APNU leader Aubrey Norton as a consensus candidate is indicative of a broader absence of transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, the APNU’s move to keep the door open for future negotiations rings hollow on the backdrop of months of fruitless negotiation, and an apparent lack of trust between the parties.
Guyana requires an opposition that can rise above personal ego and petty backroom deal-making to present real solutions to problems like economic growth, health, and national cohesion. What it finds instead are parties that seem more interested in making deals for themselves rather than doing business for the country.

This breakdown in these coalition talks is not simply a political setback—it is a bitter reminder that if the opposition cannot find a way to place Guyana first, it will be rendered irrelevant to an electorate hungry for genuine leadership and a winning vision of the future.