–Hughes says, compares party’s position to 2011 level despite significant loss of members

LEADER of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes, on Monday, declared the party’s confidence and renewed focus, as it officially submitted its list of candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the upcoming general and regional elections.

Speaking with members of the media outside GECOM’s office on Nominations Day, Hughes said the AFC is running independently.
“We are extremely happy to be running alone as the Alliance for Change again after 2011, we have our full list for all the regions and all the categories,” he claimed despite the visible support for the party has dwindled significantly.

Hughes highlighted that the party has placed strong emphasis on gender equity in its proposed cabinet, should it be successful at the polls.
The AFC leader also stated that by Friday the party would be announcing its prime ministerial candidate.
On the matter of candidates, Hughes was upbeat about what he described as a rejuvenation within the party, despite several defections to its former coalition partner A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

Juretha Fernandes, Sherod Duncan and Deonarine “Ricky” Ramsaroop crossed over to Aubrey Norton’s camp, with Fernandes named the Prime Ministerial candidate for APNU.
Hughes, however, said: “We got new fresh, blood,” referencing the party’s political journey since its founding.

He said: “You remember when we started, we started alone, the next election we went alone, the next election we went in together and the next election.”
Hughes also signalled a return to the party’s roots, noting: “I think the AFC has come back to its core principles and its core approach to politics.”
The AFC had for months prior to nomination day been in talks with the APNU to revive the coalition.

AFC had proposed 70/30 proposals for a coalition government, that was rejected by the APNU. Eventually, the coalition talks fell through with the AFC offering to settle for just 35 per cent of political representation.

“It takes two hands to clap… I think we did as much clapping as we could, a matter of fact, perhaps overclapped,” he said.
The AFC last contested elections independently in 2011. In the 2015 and 2020 elections, the party joined forces with APNU as part of a coalition government, a partnership that has since dissolved.