Leader of the Alliance for Change Raphael Trotman said last Friday that he could not have served on the party’s Management Committee as he was never nominated or elected to do so.
Trotman was responding to questions from this newspaper based on a letter written by columnist Freddie Kissoon which stated that Trotman should not have accepted the nomination for leadership of his party as he hardly attended the meetings of the Management Committee. Kissoon’s letter was published in the February 1, 2017 edition of this newspaper.
Speaking at an AFC press conference, Trotman made it clear that based on what was outlined in the party’s Constitution he could not attend. He said that anyone who had any vague knowledge of the AFC constitution should know that the members of the Management Committee were listed. Reading from a copy of the Constitution he said, “The Management Committee will comprise not more than six persons namely, the leader, the chairman, the deputy chairman, the general secretary and two other members of the National Executive who shall be nominated to serve on the Management Committee.”
Trotman said he was not one of those persons elected nor was he nominated. “This claim that I was not attending meetings… is quite frankly not deserving of a response, but as I said, given the respect I have for your media house and for you that is my response. So in no way was I violating any party Constitution and therefore the argument about fairness or the justness of my return should not arise,” he said.
The argument of Kissoon’s letter was that in light of his poor attendance it would be immoral for Trotman to run for the leadership position.
Trotman said that he was nominated by several groups across the country and he indicated that he was willing to put his name up. He said he indicated at the conference that he was returning to the party without any expectations and he was prepared to serve in any capacity.
