CHAIRMAN of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) Dr Mark France, said that the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party has not honoured the agreement that was signed between the two parties before the 2025 election.

Dr France admitted on the Freddie Kissoon Show last Wednesday that ANUG has been “shafted” by WIN.  He stated that four out of six pillars of the agreement have still not been honoured.

Interestingly, Dr France does not want to make the agreement public as yet, stating that he does not have the ‘permission’ of the ANUG executive to do so.  He claimed that at least two seats were to go to ANUG as a result of WIN gaining 16 in the elections. The politician said ANUG was  allotted only one parliamentary seat.

Dr France alleged that Azruddin Mohamed, when confronted by the ANUG executive, appeared to claim “ignorance” of the agreement.

He said that this development was “sad” for third-party politics in Guyana and said a lot about Mohamed and WIN. Yet still, Dr France admitted that no decision has been taken to sue WIN or Mohamed for breaching the signed agreement.

Dr France said publicly that WIN needs structure and administration, questioning if WIN, as the main opposition, is prepared to hold the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic accountable in parliament.

In the same breath, he revealed that ANUG was an independent party and is focused on rebuilding its image and party. He explained that ANUG had been reeling from the aftermath of resignations from its membership and executive since it signed the agreement to work with WIN. He described it as a “backlash,” but also admitted that the ANUG executive was seeing some positives from it.

He questioned WIN’s lack of transparency and structure in the selection of MPs, which was a bone of contention between ANUG and WIN, but tried hard not to criticise Mohamed.

In the end, he shied away from answering why he was not chosen by Mohamed to go to parliament. He bobbed and weaved throughout the interview, saying that he did not put himself forward and that he wanted others to go.

On the indictments that the US has brought against Mohamed, Dr France said that if Mohamed is taken away from Guyana, he does not see WIN operating without Mohamed. After all, Dr France must be commended for appearing on that show to answer the tough questions. Let’s analyse his statements on the show.

Firstly, if what was said is true, Dr France should immediately resign the Chairmanship of ANUG and remove himself from the limelight. Dr France has failed the membership of ANUG and all persons who voted for WIN because of ANUG. He has presided over two failed agreements which saw ANUG “shafted,” disrespected, sidelined and locked out of parliament completely.

In 2020, when ANUG should have taken up its seat in parliament following the Deputy Speaker’s resignation, Dr Asha Kissoon was allowed to enter instead to serve what was thought to be a short three-month period. She “shafted” ANUG, serving the entire two years and seven months period. Dr France and ANUG were running around like a toothless poodle. They could not reverse the disrespect and crudeness shown to them by Kissoon.

Again, he signed the agreement for six tenets to be enforced after the polls. WIN, according to him, has not so far. WIN breached the signed agreement. Yet, the ANUG chairman failed to make the signed agreement public and is holding calm because of a decision of the ANUG executive.

BS! Weak, Disingenuous.  What’s there to hide now that the ANUG is independent and the elections are over? What does he not want the public to see? Why is he trying to protect WIN and Mohamed against ANUG’s interests?

Dr France has shown bad political leadership, and that he is unfit for the position of chairman. He is not playing politics, and he has not learned from the first time that politics is not church and that it is a calculated power game.

ANUG is now bleeding, and nothing Dr France or the ANUG executive says will stop it. It has had a bad run in politics and he should offer his resignation from ANUG. He has already said he personally was not in agreement with how ANUG is sheepishly handling the fallout. It is clear that WIN and Mohamed are bullying and bulldozing ANUG.

The chairmanship should be fighting for what was to be given to ANUG in the agreement, not doing these pitiful interviews. Politics is power, and politics is strategic.

Secondly, if ANUG believes in the power of coalitions, it should be careful of who it makes its partners. Clearly, ANUG’s membership was not in favour of teaming with WIN but the executive still rammed the agreement through. Now, ANUG is left with nothing really to show; that’s because there is no mutual respect and trust.

If one cannot enforce the agreement signed by moving to the courts, then why sign it at all? ANUG has suffered a real political blow and the public will never recover — not if it continues in the same vein.

Agreement to contest an election alongside another party should not cost either side their individuality or image. ANUG has lost both in the course of the last eight years.

Thirdly, Mohamed used ANUG and repaid the debt by scouting out Nandranie Singh to be a parliamentarian. Singh does not have the experience nor did not come through the ranks of ANUG. She doesn’t even understand what the principles of ANUG are and what the movement’s purpose is.

Dr France sat there and lied through his teeth that Singh was a member of ANUG before nomination Day. She was parachuted into the Mohamed camp. She will work on his agenda and frankly do his bidding in parliament, and there is nothing ANUG nor Dr France could do or say about it.

ANUG, as a matter of fact, is not represented in parliament. None of the other 28 names were considered by WIN for national or regional seats.

So, why is Dr France comfortable telling the public that Mohamed is claiming ignorance of the deal he signed and posted in the media? The public will not accept that if that is the case. If Mohamed could recall the details surrounding the price of the Lamborghini and details of the 11 indictments he faces, then he should accurately remember six clauses.

Dr France is not being direct or honest with the public. He does not care about ANUG.

Fourthly, Dr France lied shamelessly when he said that he did not put himself forward for the parliament. He is on the WIN list as published by GECOM, but Mohamed did not choose him because of his reputation for not being honest, and he frankly loathes him since Nomination Day activities. Dr France is generally not well liked by WIN supporters and in the inner bosom of WIN. There have been many arguments and butting of heads with him because he is seen as a politician who is arrogant and cunning.

Why does Dr France not want to speak the truth and shame the devil?

It is disheartening and disingenuous yet pleasing to hear Dr France’s admission that WIN needs administration and structure. But he should be speaking about ANUG’s problems and not WIN, even though it is a dig at Mohamed and Odessa Primus’ management of the WIN grouping.

His comments, though about Mohamed and WIN’s future, offer food for thought.

Finally, WIN tricked ANUG. It is as simple as that. ANUG must now regroup and refocus itself. It should test its independence at the local government polls in a year’s time without the heavy weight of Dr France to see if it could go alone to another general and regional elections.

The public may reject it as they did the AFC and APNU. Dr France has failed yet again to garner the respect of the public as a result of his deportment, dishonesty and double standards shown clearly on the show.

The fact is, he is a weak, uninspiring, politically bankrupt and spineless politician who is holding onto the chairmanship by a thread. The public will never understand what he says or does as a politician. The public must be glad and thankful that he is not going to parliament and is kept locked out of the room where real power is wielded. If hypocritical and duplicitous were a person, it would be Dr France.  

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.