The Alliance For Change (AFC) says that it will not form alliances or partnerships with either the governing PPP/C or the main opposition PNCR for the 2011 general elections, its starkest rejection yet of any arrangement with the two.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party met on Saturday to discuss and decide on the matter of alliances and partnership building, the AFC said in a statement. “It was the unanimous view of the members present that the Party’s Conventions of July 2007 and 2009 mandated that alliances be forged with interested parties and organizations, and partnerships be pursued with like-minded individuals, groups and organizations from civil society before the next General Elections”, it said.

“The deliberations were centred on the various options relating to how and with whom these alliances and partnerships should be forged with the majority decision being that the AFC, as early as is possible, proceed to forge alliances with civic society groups, like-minded political entities, and even personalities from both the PPP/C and the PNCR, but not with the PPP/C or the PNCR as political organizations”, the statement continued.

Political analysts say that the declaration by the AFC firmly distances it from any alliance talks with the PNCR which pro-PPP/C critics have been constantly accusing it of. It also rules out the prospect of a grand alliance of all opposition parties.

The AFC, which holds five seats in Parliament, explained that the pre-election exclusion of the two main parties from the process of alliance building and partnership “was in recognition that these two parties are wholly incompatible with the AFC, which is the Party of the future; and, that the AFC ultimately will not be able to maintain its identity and core principles if it were to ally with either one of them.”

The party, which entered the political stage just prior to the 2006 general elections, has set up a four-member team headed by Sheila Holder and comprising of Dominic Gaskin, Gerhard Ramsaroop, and David Patterson to engage as soon as possible with like-minded individuals, personalities and entities towards forging alliances. “The NEC agreed to give acknowledgement and due respect to the minority view expressed at the said meeting that the door should not be closed on the possibility of forming alliances with the PPP/C and/or the PNCR”, the statement added.

Saturday’s meeting was attended by the Party’s elected officers and Regional Representatives. Included, also, through teleconferencing were the NEC non-resident Representatives of the Caribbean, USA and UK Chapters. The President of the AFC’s youth arm, Youth For Change (YFC), made his inaugural entry into the NEC’s deliberations. There were additionally other special invitees, the statement said. It added that the discussions were healthy and robust about how the AFC should move on the matter of alliances.

The Party had recently made it known that it is examining a new proposal for a “grand alliance” of compatible allies to contest next year’s elections that is premised on the idea that coming together is the only option for the country’s survival. It has been circulating a working paper titled “the Pathway to Victory 2011” which argues for a grand alliance and sets out a framework to drive it forward. The paper proposes an alliance of political parties, civil society groups and individuals who have similar national goals and expectations. “Therefore, the alliance would be built by a coalition of compatible allies, resting on a strong programmatic platform,” it says, adding that each partner can identify and agree on collective critical issues to be addressed in the interest of the people, including “winning the election, and the necessary mechanisms for the implementation of agreed solutions and governance after the elections.”

The drive for a broad-based partnership has been spoken about increasingly in recent weeks, particularly following the triumph of the People’s Partnership – the opposition coalition which won a landslide victory in Trinidad and Tobago. Opposi-tion parties have publicly stated interest in the prospect of a broad partnership to challenge the PPP/C next year.

Last week, a citizens’ group released a draft protocol intended to formalise a partnership. “…We are all united by our commitment to improve the standards of political behaviour, public dealings, social discourse, transparency and accountability,” said the members of the group behind the protocol, who are citizens that come from all races, genders, religions, classes and wage groups. The members include some members of political parties. “We recognize that this task requires commitment to the virtues of honesty, hard work, thrift, sacrifice, fairness and life-long learning as the only pathway to excellence in personal performance and success of our country,” they had said.

One of the proposed principles would see a list of presidential candidates being drawn up and the Preparatory Committee considering the conduct of a professional opinion poll as one way of obtaining views on who is best suited to be Head of State.

The group, describing themselves as ordinary citizens who wish to help in making Guyana a better place for all, said the document proposes the setting up of a Pre-paratory Committee. “Member-ship of this Committee should reflect differences of race, ethnicity and gender” and include not more than 30 persons with no more than three persons representing each political party. Taking account of religious, cultural and skills-based concerns it is proposed that the Committee should contain no more than three persons representing each of the following interests: youth, business, advocacy, trade unions and civil society.

It is further proposed that at its inaugural meeting the Committee should examine and approve an agenda, elect a chairperson from its membership, create mechanisms and procedures for its work and consider adoption of the protocol.

The protocol says that the persons behind the initiative are all citizens of Guyana and come from all races, genders, religions, classes and wage groups.

A source close to the group said that an announcement would be made shortly on how interested members of the public and the diaspora can share their opinions on this initiative.