The Alliance For Change (AFC) yesterday accused the PPP/C administration of circulating flyers which misleadingly indicate that party leader Raphael Trotman would be contesting for the presidency at next year’s general elections.
According to an AFC release, the flyers promoting the fictitious candidacy of Trotman signaled that the PPP obviously feared “the growing influence of the AFC.” “Mr. Trotman has repeatedly indicated that he will not be seeking such a nomination, but will be endorsing Khemraj Ramjattan for that candidacy,” it stated. When contacted for a comment last evening, Trotman said he would be moving a motion to have Ramjattan adopted as their presidential candidate at the party’s Special National Convention to be held in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the AFC said it has been reliably informed that “the dirty-tricks department of the Office of the President” is behind the move to discredit AFC leaders and to sow seeds of division and confusion within its support base. According to the party, it has traced several malicious attacks back to this entity, including several bloggers and the protestors who had picketed AFC senior members.
According to the release, the AFC membership has been briefed to prepare for an “unprecedented onslaught of attacks against the leadership” and to ignore the propaganda and focus on preparing to remove the “failed regime at the upcoming elections.” “Success only comes after long struggle so the PPP’s attacks will only serve to galvanise, focus, and sharpen the party to overcome the challenges and resistance being mounted against it,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Press and Publicity Officer in the Office of the President Kwame McCoy, in responding to the AFC’s statement, said the party’s “blame the government mentality” and paranoia was “second to none.” He added that the government could not be blamed for the “lack of interest” in the AFC movement.
“It is obvious and absolutely clear that the AFC has serious leadership issues and is therefore attempting to put its party woes at the doorstep of the PPP administration,” McCoy said. According to him, it is the inconsistencies of the AFC leadership and its “own dirty tricks that has produced disunity, discontent and fragmentation in the party.”
