AFC Executive Member Dominic Gaskin

LGE March 2016

By Devina Samaroo

Putting to rest months of speculation, the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have finally decided to join forces to contest the Local Government Elections (LGE) on March 18, 2016.

This was confirmed by AFC Executive Member Dominic Gaskin on Sunday during a telephone interview with Guyana Times.

“We are going as a coalition,” Gaskin, who is also the Business Minister, told this newspaper when asked about his party’s preparation for the upcoming polls.

The politician disclosed that both parties are currently working together to develop campaign strategies and determine the selection process for candidates.

In fact, Gaskin admitted that its members are yet to decide upon a suitable person to act as the campaign manager to coordinate the various preparatory activities.

Nonetheless, he noted that the party already commenced awareness campaigns to educate its membership on the local Government structure and process.

Prompted for more information on the coalition’s preparations, Gaskin stated that he was not heavily involved in the LGE discussions and was, therefore, not in a position to divulge further information.

Just some four months ago, AFC General Secretary David Patterson reported that his party was still deciding if it was in its best interest to stand solo or join forces again with APNU.

Massive defeat

At a time when speculation was rife, political commentators had noted that both the AFC and APNU would suffer a massive defeat should they contest as a coalition at the upcoming polls.

Dr Henry Jeffrey, former Foreign Affairs Minister, had explained that if the AFC decides to contest alone, the chances were it would perform miserably since it would have by now lost a significant portion of its traditional constituents.

“This will weaken the AFC,” he noted.

And consequently, he explained that the circumstances would then weaken APNU since the two parties had to coalesce in order to form the central Government.

Before the historic ‘marriage’ between the two parties, the AFC had expressed scepticism on coalescing with APNU, fearing the backlash from its supporters who have not forgotten the track record of the major APNU partner People’s National Congress in Government. AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan had warned that if the AFC were to coalesce with APNU, his party would become “dead meat”.

Resign or merge

Meanwhile, according to reports from another section of the media, Ramjattan made it clear that he would rather resign as AFC Leader than fully merge with APNU.

“We are going to maintain ourselves as AFC…[I] would rather resign as leader of the AFC than have that happen,” Ramjattan is quoted as saying.

Moreover, as predicted by many, Prime Minister and AFC Executive Member Moses Nagamootoo had finally admitted that there were several conflicts between his party and the APNU membership.

In spite of consistent denials by some members of the AFC, the parties have clearly been in breach of the much touted “Cummingsburg Accord”, notably in favour of APNU.

Specifically, contrary to the Accord, Nagamootoo does not chair Cabinet, nor is he in charge of domestic national affairs.

In fact, the powers he was promised have all been diminished to oversight of the information sector of the State media – an authority he now has been accused of abusing.

The Accord also stated that the Prime Minister would recommend ministerial appointments and provide organisational structures for Ministries – for the approval of the President and the appointment of Heads of Agencies and non-constitutional commissions.

It is apparent that he was never involved in any of these activities.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran had also predicted danger ahead for the coalition given the violations of the Cummingsburg Accord and alleged internal pressure on President David Granger from the PNC arm of the alliance.

Ramkarran recognised that the Accord has been blatantly breached and if it were not addressed quickly and appropriately, the parties could expect to lose support, particularly the AFC.

That aside, with the date for LGE fast-approaching, political parties are hastily switching to elections mode to prepare themselves for these critical polls which will determine which party will have authority to control the various constituencies within the country.

The PPP/C already reported that it is in the process of identifying potential candidates. (devinas@guyanatimesgy.com)