Alliance For Change Leader Raphael Trotman has deemed recent attempts suggesting that his party is considering merging with the PNCR, as deliberate bids to create mischief.
Speaking yesterday at a press briefing at the Ariantze Hotel, the AFC Leader stressed that the party had never had any bilateral discussions with the PNCR about coming together. Trotman was responding to a full-page advertisement placed in yesterday’s edition of Kaieteur News allegedly by a group of concerned PNCR members and which strongly hinted that a merger between the PNCR and AFC was on the cards. Captioned “Change the Leader Campaign”, the ad was calling for the removal of Robert Corbin as leader of the PNCR.
The advertisement said in part that “Corbin continues to fail us!!!”
The advertisement identified several alternatives who could serve as “a new, vibrant, dynamic and progressive leader” for the party. Aubrey Armstrong, Mark Benschop, Richard van West Charles, Aubrey Norton and Deborah Backer were identified as alternatives and their photos were placed on the ad, alongside that of Corbin. Corbin’s image was however crossed out with an X.
According to the advertisement, the alternative leader would “finalize merger talks between the PNCR and AFC”.
Trotman yesterday emphasized that there is no discussion ongoing with the party with regard to forming any coalition and he said that the AFC did not involve itself in the internal affairs of any other party.
According to him, while the AFC may periodically interact with the other political parties this was not on a bilateral level. He said occasionally they would partner with other parties to achieve a particular objective and he cited the recent compilation of the human rights dossier as an example of such collaboration.
Nevertheless, Trotman hinted at a possible future partnership with the GAP/ROAR grouping. According to him, the AFC and GAP/ROAR “have a close relationship” and he hoped that “this will lead somewhere.” When questioned by reporters about what this meant, he said that if the party ever engaged in a bilateral relationship with the grouping, it would connote a partnership based on equity and equality.
Trotman said that the AFC was fully promoting the concept of Article 13 of the Constitution which dealt with inclusivity of governance and decision making.
He said it was clear that Guyanese were tired with the current arrangements as they related to governance and the general corruption, nepotism and high-handedness. According to him, with this in mind the party was willing to facilitate collaborations with other civic partners to contest upcoming local government polls.