Dear Editor,
Now that the AFC has announced the party’s national conference will be in January 2017, it leaves many to ponder as to its accuracy. A few months back the party;s General Secretary said that the national conference would be held before the year is out, but that is not so.
The AFC knows that they have lost around 60% of their support nationally, and here in Berbice they have lost almost 50% of their supporters. Those that hold on to the AFC are the ones that have no support or have nowhere to go. In Berbice since Ramayya’s exit, we hardly hear of the AFC and its work. The AFC should be ashamed to say that it has support in Berbice. They have betrayed the Indians and people who voted for them there. Take the recent appointment of the REO; that is a conflict of interest.
What is the AFC doing? During the election campaign TV programmes said that 60% of the positions will belong to the AFC in Region 6. Well maybe they missed and include the 0% at the back of the 6%, because all the AFC has is 6% of RDC councillors. The REO and DREO in Region 6 are with APNU. The AFC have no one representing the people in Region 6. The MP they put there is not supportive of the residents of Berbice. He is never available to listen and assist with issues. He forgets the people who put him and the AFC there.
The PM’s representative only represents those in high position who have big businesses. He forgets that he is a regional councillor and also needs to represent all the people of Berbice. It is shocking that he cannot fill the spot of Dr Ramayya. I have asked the PM to come clean on this man’s status, but to date he has not done so.
The AFC has nothing to offer the people of Berbice or Guyana any more. It is a party that will now hold on to APNU so that it can maintain its positions and benefits in government. How many jobs have the AFC created for their party fighters in Regions 5 and 6? They have neglected their own supporters in every way possible. They shamelessly come to Berbice and show their faces as if they cared. Where is the voice of Mr Abel Seetaram, who highlights things when they go wrong in the region? It seems that he was shut up for standing up for the people and his supporters’ rights.
I am challenging Mr Seetaram to come out and speak up against the injustices being done by the AFC to its supporters. As a young man, I know he has more followers than Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan and the entire leadership of the AFC. Therefore for him to maintain the support, now is the time to speak up and challenge the leadership of the party. Mr Seetaram maybe a controversial politician but he always stands up for the people. I call on him to run at the upcoming conference of the party for a senior position, and believe me readers, he will make it. I think he is presently an executive member of the AFC, which means he had to get support nationally to make it there.
In Berbice I see only one fighter left for the AFC and that’s Mr Seetaram. I see a lot of Berbicians know that Mr Seetaram can be the man after Dr Ramayya in Berbice. Where are the voices of people like Mark Ross, Devindra Sookraj, Johnson and others? Were they given top notch government positions to be shut up?
The AFC is a party that is now facing a lot of challenges, in terms of regaining the confidence of the people and its lost supporters; maintaining its ground; getting more support; and in having an energetic and dynamic leadership structure.
The AFC leadership has failed its supporters and members miserably. They are at the crossroads and that is why they have decided to have the national conference outside the constitutional time frame, which is every two years.
Yours faithfully,
James Fraser
